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LOG     CABIN    TO     WHITE    HOUSE     SERIES 


FROM    THE    RANCH 
TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

AUTHOR,    LEGISLATOR,    FIELD    SPORTSMAN, 
SOLDIER,        REFORMER       AND       EXECUTIVE 

By  Edward  S.  Ellis,  A.  M. 

ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

HURST  &  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Log  Cabin  to  White  House  Series. 


UNIFORM    WITH    THIS    VOLUME. 

BY  WILLIAM  M.  THAYER : 


From  Boyhood  to  Man- 
hood—Life of  Benja- 
min Franklin. 

From  Farm  House  to 
White  House— Life  of 
George  Washington. 

From  Log  Cabin  to  White 
House— Life  of  James 
A.  Garfleld,  with 
eulogy  by  Hon.  James 
G.  Elaine. 


From  Pioneer  Home  to 
White  House— Life 
of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
with  eulogy  by  Hon. 
Geo.  Bancroft. 

From  Tannery  to  White 
House  —  Life     of 
Ulysses  S.  Grant. 

BY  EDWARD  S.  ELLIS  : 
From  Ranch  to  White  House— Life  of  Theodore 
Roosevelt. 

Price    Post-Paid,   yjc.    each,   or  $4.30  for 

the  set. 

HURST  &  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS,  NEW  YORK. 


Copyright,  1906,  by  HURST  &  COMPANY. 


PREFACE. 

WHEN  we  meet  a  man  of  lofty  moral  and 
physical  courage,  whose  conscience  is  his 
supreme  master,  who  loves  his  fellow-men, 
is  generous,  charitable,  and  as  quick  to  re- 
ward as  to  condemn,  whose  patriotism  is  a 
part  of  his  religion,  and  who  gives  and  de- 
mands a  "square  deal"  every  time,  we  are 
apt  to  think  he  only  lacks  wings  to  soar 
away  as  a  full-fledged  angel. 

Yet  it  would  be  fulsome  and  absurd  to 
claim  that  Theodore  Roosevelt  is  such  a  per- 
son. Being  human,  he  has  made  errors,  and 
will  make  more  of  them  before  he  dies.  By 
nature,  he  is  impulsive,  and  sometimes  too 
headlong  in  making  and  acting  upon  de- 
cisions ;  he  is  inclined  to  think  his  way  is 
the  only  way,  when  older  and  more  expe- 
rienced men  are  confident  it  is  not ;  his 
ardent  friendships  have  obscured  at  times 
his  sense  of  justice  ;  his  promotions  in  the 
army  in  some  instances  have  not  been  fair  to 
those  who  have  grown  gray  in  the  service 
and  proved  their  worth  on  many  a  crimson 
3 

v^_i..«^>  «J    V>  Jt 


4  PREFACE. 

battle-field.     Other  official    acts  have   not 
always  pleased  his  truest  friends. 

But,  none  the  less,  the  fact  remains  that 
Theodore  Roosevelt  is  one  of  the  most  ad- 
mirable types  of  American  manhood  that 
ever  lived.  He  is  a  patriot  to  the  bone,  his 
integrity  is  unassailable,  his  ability  of  the 
highest  order.  He  has  been  an  unrelenting 
foe  of  dishonesty  and  corruption  from  the 
first ;  the  one  question  respecting  every  meas- 
ure brought  before  him  is,  "  Is  it  right  ? " 
And  that  which  he  believes  is  right,  that 
will  he  do,  though  the  heavens  fall. 

He  was  heavily  handicapped  at  the  begin- 
ning. He  was  born  into  a  "  blue  blood  " 
family  and  without  the  necessity  of  toiling 
for  a  living.  But  no  one  cares  less  for  a 
name,  and  no  laborer  on  the  streets  works 
harder  than  he.  He  was  of  weak,  puny 
frame,  yet  made  himself  one  of  the  sturdiest 
and  most  powerful  of  men ;  he  is  clean- 
minded,  a  brave,  aggressive  Christian,  a 
mighty  hunter,  a  brilliant  author,  and  a  force- 
ful speaker, — one  who  always  has  something 
to  say,  and  says  it  with  irrestrainable  earnest- 
ness, while  every  one  who  hears  his  words 
admits  that  they  are  well  worth  hearing. 

President  Roosevelt,  therefore,  is  an  in- 
spiring lesson  to  all  American  youth,  upon 
whom  the  truth  cannot  be  too  deeply  im- 
pressed that  manliness,  honesty,  integrity, 


PREFACE.  5 

moral  and  physical  courage,  patriotism,  and 
the  love  of  God  and  one's  fellow-men,  are 
the  highest  and  truest  ideals  ;  that  their 
attainment  constitutes  the  surest  road  to 
success,  even  in  a  worldly  sense,  and  it  is 
they,  and  they  alone,  that  make  life  worth 
living. 

E.  S.  E. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Birth — Ancestry — Boyhood — Strong  Will  of  the  Lad — At 
Harvard — His  Marriage  and  Daughter — Father  of  Roose- 
velt— Second  Marriage  and  Children — Moral  Courage — A 
Sunday  School  Teacher — Tour  of  Europe — His  Belief  in 
Work— Political  Duties  of  Every  Citizen— Election  as  a 
Member  of  the  New  York  Legislature 13 

CHAPTER  II. 

In  His  Element — High  Moral  Courage — Roosevelt  and 
Grover  Cleveland — Successful  Demand  for  a  Scandal 
Investigation — President  Lincoln's  Wonderful  Tact — 
What  Roosevelt  Learned  Therefrom 23 

CHAPTER  III. 

A  National  Leader — The  Republican  National  Convention 
of  1884 — Roosevelt  at  the  Head  of  the  New  York  Dele- 
gation— Career  of  James  G.  Blaine — Roosevelt's  Candidate 
— Nomination  of  Blaine — Roosevelt's  Decision  as  to  His 
Duty  in  the  Campaign 36 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Nuisance  of  Political  Removals  with  each  Change  of 
Administration— The  Problem  Before  the  Country— The 
Opposing  Views— The  Right  Policy—  "  To  the  Victors 
Belong  the  Spoils  " — Numerous  Removals  Made  by  Presi- 
dent Jackson — Spoils  System  Never  Dead — Its  Intolerable 
Growth — One  of  the  Causes  of  the  Death  of  President  W. 
H.  Harrison — Appointment  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  as  a 
Member  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission — His  Views  on 
Civil  Service  Reform — The  Work  Accomplished — Un- 

7 


$  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

reasoning  Opposition — How  it  was  Met  and  Overcome — 
An  Amusing  Feature — Valuable  Information  Concerning 
the  Civil  Service  Act 45 

CHAPTER  V. 

Appointed  Police  Commissioner  of  the  City  of  New  York— 
His  Associates — Demoralization  of  the  Police  Department 
— Bad  Features  of  a  Bi-Partisan  Board — Formidable 
Power  Arrayed  Against  the  Excise  Law — Brave  and 
Effective  Work  Done  by  the  Commissioners — When  the 
President  of  the  Board  was  Outwitted — Haroun-al-Roose- 
velt — Radical  Measures  of  Reform — Popularity  of  Roose- 
velt with  the  Police 63 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Cuba— Intolerable  Cruelty  of  Spanish  Rule — Treachery  of 
the  Spanish  Authorities — The  Revolt  of  1895 — Sympathy 
and  Aid  from  the  Americans — English  Views— Some  of 
the  Grievances  of  the  Cubans — "  Butcher  Weyler  " — His 
Fearful  Policy  of  Reconcentration— President  McKinley's 
Forceful  Words— Visit  to  Cuba  by  United  States  Senators 
and  Congressmen — Senator  Thurston's  Eloquent  Protest 
—One-sixth  of  Cuba's  Population  Destroyed— Congres- 
sional Grant  for  Cuban  Relief— The  Red  Cross  Associa- 
tion—Uselessness  of  the  Spanish  Grant  of  Funds— Recall 
of  Weyler — Spain's  Offer  of  Home  Rule  to  the  Cubans — 
Blowing  up  of  the  Maine— Unpleasant  Truths  Connected 
with  the  Cubans 79 

CHAPTER  VII. 

President  Cleveland's  Vigorous  Message — What  Might 
Have  Followed— Our  Unpreparedness  at  that  Time  and 
Later — Roosevelt  as  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy— 
His  Tireless  Energy — Commodore  Dewey — Roosevelt's 
Determination  to  enter  the  Military  Service — Lieutenant- 
Colonel  and  Later  Colonel  of  the  Rough  Riders — General 
Alarm  Caused  by  Admiral  Cervera's  Fleet— Its  Fate— The 
Rough  Riders  at  Tampa— Roosevelt's  Care  of  His  Men— 
The  Landing  in  Cuba 93 


CONTENTS.  9 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

PAGE 

On  Cuban  Soil— A  Trying  March— First  Encounter  with 
the  Spaniards — Smokeless  Powder — Bravery  of  the  Colored 
Troops — Charge  of  the  Rough  Riders  up  the  Hill — Rout 
of  the  Enemy.  Graphic  Account  of  Sergeant  Ousler — 
Nerve  and  Coolness  of  Surgeon  Church — The  Misfortune 
of  a  Base-Ball  Pitcher— Wounding  of  a  Campaign  Hat- 
Roosevelt's  Bravery — Not  a  Coward  Among  the  Ameri- 
cans— A  Nervy  Little  Spaniard — Nervousness  of  Brave 
Men— Dodging  Bullets— The  Cactus 106 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Roosevelt's  Promotion  to  the  Colonelcy  of  the  Rough 
Riders — The  Advance  Against  Santiago — El  Caney  and 
San  Juan— The  March-Plan  of  the  Attack— Opening  of  the 
Battle — Interception  of  the  Flight  of  the  Enemy — Assault 
by  the  Rough  Riders  and  the  Tenth  Cavalry— Desperate 
Charge  up  San  Juan  Hill — Roosevelt's  Intrepid  Leader- 
ship— His  Official  Account  of  the  Affair 117 

CHAPTER  X. 

Bravery  Displayed  by  the  Rough  Riders— Equal  Bravery 
of  All  the  Troops— Official  Reports  of  Colonel  Roosevelt.  127 

CHAPTER  XI. 

A  Greater  Danger  than  War  in  Cuba— Meeting  of  Officers 
Summoned  by  General  Shatter — Roosevelt's  Letter  to 
Shafter— The  Round  Robin— Its  Effect— Indignation  of 
Secretary  of  War  Alger — Roosevelt's  Opinion — Close  of 
the  War  with  Spain 144 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Mixed  Condition  of  Politics  in  New  York — Proposals  to 
Roosevelt  by  the  Independents — Nominated  for  Governor 
by  the  Regular  Republicans — His  Election — "  Ruling  by 
the  Ten  Commandments  "  —  Nominated  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency — An  Important  Address  Delivered  at  Chicago.  158 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

PAGE 

Theodore  Roosevelt  as  Vice-President— His  famous  Address 
on  the  "  Strenuous  Life." 172 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Oration  on  "  Manhood  and  Statehood." 194 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Martyred  Presidents  —  Assassination  of  President 
McKinley — Mr.  Roosevelt  at  Mount  Marcy  in  the  Adiron- 
dacks— The  News  carried  to  Him— His  Night  Ride 
Through  the  Mountains — Arrival  at  Buffalo — Sworn  in  as 
President — Announcement  of  his  Intention  to  Continue 
the  Policy  of  McKinley— His  First  Proclamation 209 

CHAPTER  XVI.    « 

Indiscriminate  Immigration  a  National  Menace — This 
Conutry  the  Refuge  of  the  Most  Dangerous  of  Criminals 
— "Agin  the  Government  " — The  Anarchistic  Crime  in 
Chicago  in  1884 — Maudlin  Sympathy  with  Criminals — The 
"  Mafia "  Organization — Assassination  of  the  Chief  of 
Police  of  New  Orleans — Swift  Vengeance — Reaction 
Against  Anarchism — Personality  of  the  Slayers  of  Presi- 
dents Lincoln,  Garfield  and  McKinley — Anarchism  Still  a 
Menace — Impressive  Words  of  President  Roosevelt 223 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Matured  But  Unchanged  by  Advancement — Tribute  to  Mr. 
Roosevelt's  Character  by  a  Political  Opponent — A  Com- 
mon Mistake  of  Biographers — Illustrative  Incident — The 
Kishenev  Massacres — Cleverness  with  which  the  American 
Protest  was  'brought  before  the  Czar — The  Negro  a  Dis- 
turbing Element  in  American  Politics — Policy  of  the 
President — Tact  Shown  in  the  Management  of  the  Indian- 
ola  Affair— The  Indian  Problem— President  Roosevelt's 
Views— Their  Practical  Wisdom  Shown  by  Actual  Tests— 
The  President's  Promptness  During  the  Labor  Strike  in 
Arizona — Anthracite  Coal  Strike — Wide  Distress  and 
Alarm— How  it  was  Settled  by  the  President , .  239 


CONTENTS.  11 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

MM 

The  Hague  Conference — President  Roosevelt's  Deep  Interest 
Therein — Note  Sent  to  the  Signatory  Powers  through 
Secretary  Hay — Favorable  Responses — Second  Conference 
Assured — The  Late  War  between  Russia  and  Japan — 
Overwhelming  Success  of  Japan — Stubbornness  of  the  Bel- 
ligerents— Impossibility  of  Interference  by  other  Powers — 
Decisive  Blow  Delivered  by  Admiral  Togo — Universal  De- 
mand for  Stoppage  of  the  War  —  President  Roosevelt's 
Effective  Services  in  Bringing  About  Peace  Between  Japan 
and  Russia , 259 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Greatest  Commercial  Work  of  the  Age— Folly  of  Co- 
lombia—Revolt of  Panama— Treaty  of  the  United  States 
with  Colombia  for  the  Construction  of  the  Isthmian  Ca- 
nal— Statement  by  the  President  of  the  Work  Done  on  the 
Canal — Three  Principal  Subjects  Named  in  the  President's 
Message  to  Congress — Presidential  Election  of  1904 — 
President  Roosevelt's  Versatility — His  Literary  Works 
— His  Fondness  for  Hunting — A  Prophecy — Not  to  be  a 
Candidate  Again  for  the  Presidency — His  Religious  Con- 
victions and  Love  for  his  Family — An  Admirable  Army 
Order— One  of  the  Noblest  Types  of  a  MAN 273 

CHAPTER  XX. 

President  Roosevelt's  Views  on  Religion,  Patriotism,  Educa- 
tion, Labor  and  Capital,  and  Civic  Duties 285 


FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE 
WHITE  HOUSE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD. 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  was  born  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  October  27,  1858.  His 
grandfather,  Nicholas  J.  Roosevelt,  was  a 
member  of  the  New  York  Provincial  Con- 
gress, of  the  City  Council,  and  president  of 
a  prominent  bank.  The  father  of  President 
Roosevelt  bore  the  same  name  with  himself, 
and  was  a  descendant  of  Claes  Martenzoon 
Rosevelt,  who  emigrated  from  Holland  in 
1649. 

The  twenty-fifth  President  has  always 
been  proud  to  admit  the  claim  of  the  South 
that  half  of  him  belongs  to  that  section. 
Governor  Archibald  Bullock,  the  first  gov- 
ernor of  Georgia,  was  a  direct  ancestor,  and 
the  mother  of  the  President  was  a  native  of 
the  same  State.  The  Alabama,  the  most 
famous  of  all  the  Confederate  privateers,  was 
built  by  an  uncle  of  President  Roosevelt, 
and  another  uncle  fired  th§  last  gun  on  that 
13  ' 


14     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

cruiser  as  she  was  sinking  under  the  deadly 
fire  of  the  Kearsarge. 

There  is  little  in  the  boyhood  of  Theodore 
Roosevelt  that  differs  from  that  of  thousands 
of  youthful  Americans.  When  we  recall  the 
sturdy,  vigorous  physique  of  the  man,  it 
seems  strange  to  know  that  in  childhood  he 
was  weak  and  puny  of  frame.  Multitudes  of 
lads  like  him  have  grown  into  interesting 
invalids,  or  have  died  in  their  early  teens. 
But  young  Roosevelt  wras  born  with  an  iron, 
indomitable  will,  that  never  recoiled  before 
any  obstacle,  but  became  the  more  resolute 
because  of  such  obstacle.  His  career  is 
another  illustration  of  the  truth  that  that 
which  a  man  wills  to  become,  that  he  is  sure 
to  become.  In  other  words,  you  can  have 
anything  in  this  life  that  you  wish,  provided 
you  pay  the  price.  Sometimes,  however, 
the  price  is  greater  than  the  thing  is  worth. 

So  it  was  that  as  young  Roosevelt  grew  in 
years,  he  waxed  strong,  self-reliant,  vigorous 
and  courageous.  He  became  a  model  ath- 
lete, and,  more  than  any  predecessor,  he  was 
an  "  out-doors "  President.  He  is  a  fine 
boxer,  swimmer,  hunter,  runner,  leaper,  and, 
in  fact,  he  was  the  superior  of  his  playmates 
in  nearly  every  game  so  dear  to  boyhood 
and  young  manhood.  He  was  graduated 
from  Harvard  University  in  1880,  and  in 
September  of  the  same  year  was  married  to 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD.     1§ 

Alice  Lee,  of  Boston,  who  died  four  years 
later.  One  daughter,  Alice  Lee,  was  born  of 
this  marriage,  in  1884.  She  was  married  to 
the  Hon.  Nicholas  Longworth,  of  Ohio, 
February  17,  1906. 

Mr.  Jacob  S.  Riis,  one  of  the  most  intimate 
friends  of  President  Roosevelt,  said  in  a 
sketch  of  the  father  :  "  There  hangs  in  his 
study  at  Oyster  Bay  the  picture  of  a  man 
with  a  strong-bearded  face.  Passing  it  with 
Governor  Roosevelt,  he  said,  'That  is  my 
father,'  and  added,  '  he  was  the  finest  man  I 
ever  knew.  He  was  a  merchant,  well  to  do, 
drove  his  four-in-hand  through  the  park,  and 
enjoyed  life  immensely.  He  had  a  good 
time,  and  with  cause,  for  he  was  a  good 
man.  I  remember  seeing  him  going  down 
Broadway,  staid  and  respectable  man  that  he 
was,  with  a  poor  little  sick  kitten  in  his  coat 
pocket,  which  he  had  picked  up  in  the 
street. 

"The  elder  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  a 
man  with  the  same  sane  and  practical  inter- 
est in  his  fellow-man  that  his  son  has  shown. 
He  was  the  backer  of  Charles  Loring  Brace 
in  his  work  of  gathering  the  forgotten  waifs 
from  the  city's  streets,  and  of  every  other 
sensible  charity  of  his  day.  Dr.  Henry 
Field  told  me  once  that  he  always,  occupied 
as  he  was  with  the  management  of  a  suc- 
cessful business,  on  principle  gave  one  day 


16     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

of  the  six  to  visiting  the  poor  in  their  homes. 
Apparently  the  analogy  between  father  and 
son  might  be  carried  further,  to  include  the 
famous  round-robin  ;  for,  upon  the  same 
authority,  it  was  the  elder  Theodore  Roose- 
velt who  went  to  Washington  after  the  first 
Bull  Run  and  warned  President  Lincoln 
that  he  must  get  rid  of  Simon  Cameron  as 
Secretary  of  War,  with  the  result  that  Mr. 
Stanton,  the  '  Organizer  of  Victory,'  took  his 
place.  When  the  war  was  fairly  under  way, 
it  was  Theodore  Roosevelt  who  organized 
the  allotment  plan,  which  saved  to  the  fam- 
ilies of  80,000  soldiers  of  New  York  State 
more  than  $5,000,000  of  their  pay  ;  and 
when  the  war  was  over 'he  protected  the 
soldiers  against  the  sharks  that  lay  in  wait 
for  them,  and  saw  to  it  that  they  got  em- 
ployment. 

"  That  was  his  father.  I  have  told  you 
what  the  son  is  like.  A  man  with  red  blood 
in  his  veins  ;  a  healthy  patriot,  with  no  clap- 
trap jingoism  about  him,  but  a  rugged  belief 
in  America  and  its  mission  ;  an  intense  lover 
of  country  and  flag  ;  a  vigorous  optimist,  a 
believer  in  men,  who  looks  for  good  in 
them  and  finds  it.  Practical  in  partisanship  ; 
loyal,  trusting,  and  gentle  as  a  friend  ;  un- 
selfish, modest  as  a  woman,  clean-handed 
and  clean-hearted,  and  honest  to  the  core. 
In  the  splendid  vigor  of  his  young  man- 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD.  if 

hood  he  is  the  knightliest  in  American  pol- 
itics to-day,  the  fittest  exponent  of  his  coun- 
try's ideas,  and  the  model  for  its  young 
sons  who  are  coming  to  take  up  the  task  he 
set  them." 

President  Roosevelt  was  married  to  Edith 
Kermit  Carew,  on  December  2,  1886.  The 
five  children  born  of  this  marriage  are  in  the 
order  of  their  births  :  Theodore  J.,  Kermit, 
Ethel  Carew,  Archibald  Bullock  and  Quentin. 

One  of  President  Roosevelt's  most  ad- 
mirable traits  is  his  moral  courage.  The  first 
consideration  that  presents  itself  to  him, 
when  a  question  is  under  consideration,  is, 
"  What  is  the  right  thing  to  do  ?  "  and  that 
which  his  conscience  tells  him  he  does 
without  thought  of  the  consequences.  "  Be 
sure  you're  right,  then  go  ahead,"  is  his 
motto  as  it  was  of  the  famous  Davy  Crockett. 
Reared  in  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  he 
early  identified  himself  with  that  religious 
organization,  and  what  greater  praise  can  be 
said  than  that  his  whole  life  has  been  that  of  an 
aggressive,  brave,  consistent  Christian  ?  As 
such,  he  has  always  held  an  unutterable 
contempt  for  all  sorts  of  meannesses.  It 
was  only  natural  that  one  of  his  first  steps 
when  in  college,  was  to  seek  out  a  Sunday 
School  in  which  he  could  do  work  for  his 
Master.  He  did  not  excuse  himself  because 
there  was  no  church  of  his  denomination 
a 


18     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

within  reach,  but  offered  his  services  in  a 
mission  school  of  an  Episcopal  church  and 
took  charge  of  a  large  class  of  boys  and  girls. 

One  day,  a  lad  appeared  in  his  class  with 
an  emphatic  black  eye.  The  teacher  scru- 
tinized him  closely,  and,  on  the  first  oppor- 
tunity, asked  the  youth  how  he  received  the 
significant  mark.  The  lad  owned  up  he  had 
been  in  a  fight  with  another  boy.  Now, 
teacher  Roosevelt  felt  that  it  is  never  right  to 
condemn  a  lad  for  fighting  until  after  it  has 
been  proved  he  was  in  the  wrong.  There 
are  always  two  sides  to  a  question,  and  the 
one  who  has  suffered  the  most  is  sometimes 
innocent.  It  was  learned  that  a  bully  of  the 
class  had  tormented  a  sister  of  the  lad  with 
the  black  eye,  by  continually  pinching  her 
during  lesson  time.  As  soon  as  school  was 
dismissed,  the  tormentor  was  called  to  ac- 
count. A  rough  and  tumble  fight  followed 
in  which  the  bully  received  his  deserts, 
though  he  left  his  mark  upon  the  eye  of  his 
conqueror.  Roosevelt  looked  earnestly  into 
the  face  of  the  youthful  knight,  deliberately 
thrust  his  hand  into  his  own  pocket,  took  out 
a  dollar  bill  and  handed  it  to  the  astonished 
lad  with  the  remark  :  "  You  did  right." 

Every  boy  and  girl,  excepting  the  sufferer 
himself,  felt  that  a  more  ideal  punishment 
had  never  been  inflicted.  They  were  de- 
lighted and  showed  it  so  obviously  that  it 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD.  19 

drew  the  notice  of  the  other  teachers  and 
officers  of  the  school.  The  latter  could  not 
let  the  incident  pass  unnoticed.  In  the  in- 
vestigation set  on  foot,  Roosevelt  let  them 
know  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  Dutch 
Reformed  denomination.  The  authorities 
were  sure  it  would  never  do  to  have  such 
an  outspoken  dissenter  in  their  Sunday 
School,  wherefore  the  young  man  left. 
Instead  of  accepting  the  situation  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  ceasing  his  labors  in  a  Sunday 
School,  he  walked  over  to  a  Congregational 
Church  and,  figuratively  speaking,  took  off 
his  coat  and  toiled  away  with  the  same  ardor 
in  that  branch  of  his  Master's  vineyard,  never 
ceasing  his  work  until  his  graduation  and 
departure  from  the  city. 

A  man  of  Roosevelt's  temperament,  prin- 
ciples and  sense  of  duty,  could  no  more  keep 
out  of  politics,  than  a  duck  can  keep  out  of 
water.  Directly  after  his  graduation,  he 
made  a  tour  of  Europe,  and  came  back 
prouder  of  his  country  than  ever,  though  it 
was  impossible  for  his  patriotism  to  increase. 
As  has  been  said,  he  belonged  to  one  of  the 
oldest  and  most  eminent  families,  and  had 
but  to  take  a  single  step  to  become  a  leader 
in  "  Society."  Nothing,  however,  could 
have  been  farther  from  his  tastes.  From  his 
earliest  years,  it  had  been  his  unshakable 
faith  that  every  man  born  into  this  world,  is 


20     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

born  to  work  and  to  do  his  utmost  to  uplift 
his  fellow-men.  There  is  no  room  for  slug- 
gards, and,  though  unto  one  may  be  given 
only  the  single  talent,  he  shall  be  con- 
demned, if  he  wraps  it  in  a  napkin,  instead 
of  adding  thereto.  , 

No  thoughtful  man  will  deny  that  one  of 
the  most  potent  causes  of  the  frightful  cor- 
ruption in  politics  of  to-day  is  the  indiffer- 
ence of  the  better  and  more  moral  members 
of  the  community.  Politics  have  been  the 
ruination,  body  and  soul,  of  some  of  the 
brightest  and  most  promising  men  that  ever 
lived.  It  is  but  natural  that  a  father  who 
has  the  welfare  of  his  son  at  heart,  should 
view  with  misgiving  the  entrance  of  that  son 
into  the  dirty  pool  of  politics.  They  that 
handle  pitch  shall  be  defiled,  and  how  few 
of  those  that  make  the  attempt  succeed  in 
coming  out  uncontaminated ! 

And  yet  if  politics  are  ever  to  be  purified, 
if  the  reign  of  "graft"  is  ever  to  be  over- 
thrown, and  if  that  brighter  era  for  which  we 
all  sigh  and  yearn  and  pray,  is  ever  to  bless 
this  fair  land,  the  putrid  stream  of  politics 
must  be  cleansed  at  the  fountain-head.  That 
fountain-head  is  in  the  primaries.  Good 
men  shun  them  as  a  pestilence  and  thereby 
give  the  "Bosses"  the  chance  for  their 
vicious  work,  without  which  they  could 
never  succeed  in  bringing  reproach  so  often 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD.  21 

upon  our  methods  of  government.  When 
every  good  man  shall  feel  in  the  uttermost 
depths  of  his  conscience  that  his  post  of  duty 
is  at  the  primaries  and  shall  go  there  and  do 
his  utmost  by  word  and  vote,  the  day  of 
political  regeneration  will  be  attained. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  went  into  politics 
with  all  his  natural  enthusiasm  and  bound- 
less energy.  In  his  district,  the  Twenty- 
first,  known  as  the  "  Diamond  Back,"  because 
of  the  number  of  wealthy  men  who  lived 
there,  a  prominent  aristocrat,  of  great  wealth, 
William  Waldorf  Astor,  was  nominated  for 
Congress.  Mr.  Astor  thought,  it  would  be 
pleasant  diversion  to  become  a  member  of 
the  national  body  of  lawmakers.  He  scat- 
tered money  like  water.  The  dainty  young 
man  forced  himself  to  make  the  round  of 
the  saloons,  but  he  rarely  tarried  longer 
than  to  leave  his  "  wad  "  to  the  hoodlums 
who  were  waiting  to  whoop  it  up  for  him, 
after  which  they  grinned  among  themselves 
and  decided  to  vote  for  the  other  fellow. 
Sometimes  the  candidate  could  not  repress 
his  disgust  over  the  contaminating  touch  of 
these  men,  but  they  cared  nothing  for  that, 
so  long  as  he  did  not  forget  to  keep  the 
financial  stream  running. 

The  platform  upon  which  Roosevelt  was 
nominated  was  that  of  clean  politics  and 
clean  streets.  Astor  made  high  professions. 


22      FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

a  thing  he  could  well  afford  to  do,  for  it  was 
as  easy  as  the  doctrine  of  civil  service  reform 
to  which  both  great  political  parties  were 
pledged  for  years,  before  a  President  ap- 
peared who  proved  by  his  acts  that  he 
believed  in  such  a  pledge.  But  who  was 
the  most  likely  to  carry  out,  so  far  as  in  him 
lay,  the  high-sounding  promises,— the  dainty 
aristocrat,  who  held  himself  aloof  socially 
from  the  majority  of  his  fellow-men,  or  the 
outspoken,  honest  candidate  who  had  always 
proved  himself  on  the  side  of  a  square  deal  ? 
The  saloons  were  too  important  a  factor  to 
be  ignored,  and  Roosevelt  made  a  tour  of 
some  of  them.  His  escort  gave  out  at  the 
beginning,  and  undismayed  he  "  went  it 
alone."  Never  was  there  a  more  untiring 
workman  than  he.  He  seemed  scarcely 
ever  to  sleep  or  eat.  Not  a  graceful  orator, 
he  was  forceful,  convincing,  brave  and 
honest.  The  district  was  naturally  demo- 
cratic, but  the  personality  of  Roosevelt  was 
irresistible  and  he  won  out.  The  defeated 
Astor  shook  the  dust  of  his  country  from  his 
feet,  and  sailed  for  Europe  where  he  has 
lived  ever  since.  To  him  is  attributed  the 
remark  that  there  are  no  real  gentlemen  in 
America,  and  it  is  hardly  ungenerous  to  add 
the  belief  that  should  he  ever  decide  to 
return  to  his  native  land,  the  same  dearth  to 
which  he  referred  would  remain. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   POLITICIAN. 

IT  may  be  said  that  when  Roosevelt  be- 
came a  member  of  the  lower  branch  of  the 
New  York  Legislature,  he  entered  his  ele- 
ment and  made  the  start  on  one  of  the  most 
wonderful  careers  ever  seen  in  America. 
Being  a  Republican,  he  belonged  to  the 
minority.  But  that  rather  pleased  him  than 
otherwise.  He  dearly  loves  a  fight,  and  he 
was  now  in  a  position  to  secure  one  on  the 
slightest  possible  notice.  It  need  scarcely 
be  added  that  he  plunged  into  the  conflicts 
like  a  gladiator,  and  enjoyed  them  through 
and  through. 

It  has  been  said  that  Roosevelt  is  not 
a  graceful  or  really  eloquent  orator.  In 
one  respect,  he  is  more  than  that  :  he  is  in- 
tensely in  earnest,  remarkably  well  informed 
and  therefore  convincing.  He  means  what 
he  says  and  his  nature  is  such  that  tempta- 
tion to  do  wrong  cannot  touch  him.  His 
maiden  speech  was  so  loaded  with  facts,  so 
overflowing  with  information,  and  accurate 
23 


24:     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

nistorical  knowledge,  that  it  held  his  listeners 
rapt  and  admiring,  and  attracted  attention 
throughout  the  Empire  State.  His  bitterest 
enemy  could  not  deny  his  ability  and  com- 
mand of  resources. 

An  incident  of  his  first  term  in  the  Legis- 
lature showed  the  moral  bravery  of  the  man. 
Grover  Cleveland  was  Governor  of  the  State. 
Roosevelt  introduced  a  bill  reducing  the 
fare  on  the  elevated  roads  from  ten  to  five 
cents.  As  was  to  be  expected,  the  wealthy 
corporations  strove  hard  to  defeat  the  meas- 
ure, which  if  passed,  would  cut  down  their 
receipts  one-half.  They  had  a  powerful 
lobby  at  Albany,  and  surely  there  was  no 
dearth  of  the  "  sinews  of  war."  But  Roose- 
velt forced  the  bill  through  the  Assembly, 
and  the  Senate  agreed  thereto.  Going  then 
to  the  Governor,  he  promptly  vetoed  it. 
His  reason  for  doing  so  was  that  when  the 
roads  were  built,  the  capitalists  who  had 
invested  their  money  did  so  on  the  under- 
standing that  the  fare  was  to  be  ten  instead 
of  five  cents,  and  but  for  such  understand- 
ing, the  roads  would  never  have  been  con- 
structed. It  therefore  was  not  fair  to  wait 
until  the  completion  of  the  roads  and  then 
step  in  and  make  this  sweeping  reduction. 
Such  action  was  a  violation  of  an  implied 
obligation. 

This  argument  struck  Roosevelt  where  he 


THE  POLITICIAN.  25 

is  most  vulnerable.  He  could  never  consent 
to  anything  but  a  "  square  deal."  He  was 
convinced  that  the  companies  were  not  re- 
ceiving such  treatment  in  his  bill.  When 
the  latter  came  up  again  in  the  Assembly,  a 
member  moved  its  passage  over  the  Gov- 
ernor's veto.  Roosevelt  arose  and  said  that 
in  his  opinion  the  views  of  Governor  Cleve- 
land were  right.  Capital  never  would  have 
undertaken  the  construction  of  the  elevated 
railways,  except  upon  the  understanding 
that  the  fare  was  to  be  ten  cents.  It  was 
treating  them  unfairly  to  make  the  reduc- 
tion. He  had  introduced  the  bill  in  good 
faith,  but  he  regretted  his  action  and  should 
therefore  vote  to  sustain  the  Governor's 
veto,  which  was  sustained. 

It  takes  the  highest  kind  of  moral  courage 
to  do  a  thing  like  that.  The  motives  of  him 
who  thus  acts  are  sure  to  be  assailed.  There 
were  not  wanting  those  in  the  present  case 
to  declare  that  the  young  Assemblyman, 
like  the  Governor,  had  been  "  fixed  "  by  the 
elevated  railroad  companies.  The  careers 
of  the  two  men  since  then  have  been  such 
that  their  bitterest  enemies  would  not  repeat 
the  charge. 

It  need  hardly  be  added  that  the  time 
was  not  distant  when  it  became  as  clear 
as  noonday  that  the  necessity  for  ten-cent 
fares  did  not  really  exist,  The  reduction 


26     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

was  made,  and  the  elevated  railways  are  still 
doing  a  satisfactory  business. 

It  is  easy  to  believe  the  common  report 
that  Governor  Cleveland  and  Roosevelt  each 
had  a  strong  "  pull  "  with  the  other.  They 
possess  many  instincts  in  common,  chief  of 
which  is  their  absolute  honesty  and  con- 
scientious obedience  to  duty.  Though  they 
belonged  to  opposite  political  parties,  both, 
as  genuine  reformers,  often  found  common 
ground  upon  which  to  meet.  The  gain  to 
each  of  these  remarkable  individuals  was 
marked,  and  beyond  a  doubt  had  much  to  do 
with  shaping  their  illustrious  careers. 

Such  men  as  Roosevelt  are  always  re- 
ceived with  distrust  by  the  majority  of  their 
political  associates.  There  is  no  telling 
what  a  man  with  a  conscience  will  do,  espe- 
cially if  he  always  sets  it  above  expediency. 
When  Thaddeus  Stevens,  the  great  Com- 
moner, was  driving  his  merciless  reconstruc- 
tion measures  through  Congress,  one  of  his 
frightened  associates  tremulously  protested 
that  his  conscience  would  not  permit  him  to 
go  so  far. 

"  To  hell  with  your  conscience  !  "  thun- 
dered the  old  man,  and  his  startled  pro- 
testant  let  it  go  whither  it  had  been  ordered. 

The  recent  unearthing  of  graft  and  cor- 
ruption among  the  leading  insurance  com- 
panies, and  in  Albany,  has  shocked  the 


THE  POLITICIAN.  27 

whole  country,  but  few  are  foolish  enough 
to  believe  that  such  corruption  has  not 
seethed  and  burned  in  the  State  capital  for 
years,  if  not  for  generations.  The  startling 
hour  is  when  it  is  brought  out  into  the 
fierce  light  of  publicity.  This  is  generally 
followed  by  a  virtuous  spasm,  an  overturn- 
ing of  bosses  and  a  cleaning  out  of  evil 
things  generally,  too  often  succeeded  in  time 
by  as  woful  a  lapse  as  before. 

The  first  session  of  the  Legislature  was  no 
more  than  fairly  under  way,  when  it  became 
apparent  to  every  one  not  wilfully  blind  that 
an  elevated  railway  ring  was  and  had  been 
engaged  in  the  flagrant  corruption  which  in- 
volved a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  and 
the  Attorney-General  of  the  State.  The  cit- 
izens indignantly  protested  and  petitioned, 
but  so  many  of  the  legislators  were  tarred 
with  the  same  stick,  that  they  declined  to  do 
anything  to  bring  the  criminals  to  justice. 

No  one  in  New  York  was  angrier  than 
Roosevelt,  but  mixed  with  anger  was  won- 
der that  the  Legislature  did  nothing.  He 
asked  an  explanation  from  the  Republican 
leaders.  They  smiled  indulgently,  and  shook 
their  heads.  Nothing  could  be  done. 

"  Then,  by  heavens  !  "  exclaimed  Roose- 
velt, "  I  will  force  a  public  investigation  ; 
the  scandal  shall  be  probed  to  the  bottom." 

The  bosses  could  hardly  believe  their  ears. 


28     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

Why,  such  a  course  as  he  threatened  would 
not  only  accomplish  nothing,  but  would  ruin 
the  party.  The  presumption  of  this  raw 
youth  was  intolerable  ;  had  he  no  sense  of 
propriety,  or  modesty  ?  Let  him  take  coun- 
sel of  his  elders,  and  wait  until  years  should 
temper  his  wisdom  with  discretion.  In  the 
words  of  a  writer  in  the  Saturday  Evening 
Post :  "It  was  obviously  the  counsel  of  ex- 
perienced wisdom.  So  far  as  the  clearest 
judgment  could  see,  it  was  not  the  moment 
for  attack.  Indeed,  it  looked  as  if  attack 
would  strengthen  the  hands  of  corruption  by 
exposing  the  weakness  of  the  opposition  to 
it.  Never  did  expediency  put  a  temptation 
to  conscience  more  insidiously. 

"  It  was  on  April  6,  1882,  that  young 
Roosevelt  took  the  floor  in  the  Assembly 
and  demanded  that  Judge  Westbrook  of 
Newburg,  be  impeached.  And  for  sheer 
moral  courage  that  act  is  probably  supreme 
in  Roosevelt's  life  thus  far.  He  must  have 
expected  failure.  Even  his  youth  and  ideal- 
ism and  ignorance  of  public  affairs  could 
not  blind  him  to  the  apparently  inevitable 
consequences.  Yet  he  drew  his  sword  and 
rushed  apparently  to  destruction— alone,  and 
at  the  very  outset  of  his  career,  and  in 
disregard  of  the  pleadings  of  his  closest 
friends,  and  the  plain  dictates  of  political 
wisdom. 


THE  POLITICIAN.  29 

"  That  speech — the  deciding  act  in  Roose- 
velt's career — is  not  remarkable  for  eloquence. 
But  it  is  remarkable  for  fearless  candor. 
He  called  thieves,  thieves,  regardless  of  their 
millions  ;  he  slashed  savagely  at  the  Judge 
and  the  Attorney-General ;  he  told  the  plain, 
unvarnished  truth  as  his  indignant  eyes  saw  it. 

"  When  he  finished,  the  veteran  leader  of 
the  Republicans  rose,  and  with  gently  con- 
temptuous raillery  asked  that  the  resolution 
to  take  up  the  charges  be  voted  down.  He 
said  he  wished  to  give  young  Mr.  Roosevelt 
time  to  think  about  the  wisdom  of  his 
course.  '  I,'  said  he, '  have  seen  many  repu- 
tations in  the  State  broken  down  by  loose 
charges  made  in  the  Legislature.'  And 
presently  the  Assembly  gave  '  young  Mr. 
Roosevelt  time  to  think*  by  voting  not  to 
take  up  his  '  loose  charges.' 

"  Ridicule,  laughter,  a  ripple— apparently 
it  was  all  over,  except  the  consequences  to 
the  bumptious  and  dangerous  young  man 
which  might  flow  from  the  cross  set  against 
his  name  in  the  black  books  of  the  ring. 

"  It  was  a  disheartening  defeat — almost  all 
of  his  own  party  voted  against  him  ;  the 
most  earnest  of  those  who  ventured  to  sup- 
port him  were  Democrats  ;  perhaps  half  of 
those  who  voted  with  him  did  so  merely 
because  their  votes  were  not  needed  to  defeat 
him. 


30     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

11  That  night  the  young  man  was  once 
more  urged  to  be  *  sensible/  to  '  have  regard 
to  his  future  usefulness,'  to  '  cease  injuring 
his  party.'  He  snapped  his  teeth  together 
and  defied  the  party  leaders.  And  the  next 
day  he  again  rose  and  again  lifted  his  puny 
voice  and  his  puny  hand  against  smiling, 
contemptuous  corruption.  Day  after  day 
he  persevered  on  the  floor  of  the  Assembly, 
in  interviews  for  the  press;  a  few  news- 
papers here  and  there  joined  him  ;  Assem- 
blymen all  over  the  State  began  to  hear  from 
their  constituents.  Within  a  week  his  name 
was  known  from  Buffalo  to  Montauk  Point, 
and  everywhere  the  people  were  applauding 
him.  On  the  eighth  day  of  his  bold,  smash- 
ing attack  the  resolution  to  take  up  the 
charges  was  again  voted  upon  at  his  demand. 
And  the  Assemblymen,  with  the  eyes  of  the 
whole  people  upon  them,  did  not  dare  longer 
to  keep  themselves  on  record  as  defenders 
of  a  judge  who  feared  to  demand  an  investi- 
gation. The  opposition  collapsed.  Roose- 
velt won  by  104  to  6." 

It  was  a  great  victory,  neutralized,  how- 
ever, by  the  report  of  the  committee,  which 
was  of  a  flagrant  whitewashing  order.  None 
the  less,  Roosevelt  had  literally  driven  his 
party  into  the  attitude  of  combating  wrong, 
no  matter  how  high  the  place  in  which  it 
dared  to  show  its  head.  The  next  year, 


THE  POLITICIAN.  SI 

although  the  Republican  party  went  down 
to  defeat  all  along  the  line,  Roosevelt  was 
re-elected  by  a  splendid  majority  and  was 
accepted,  while  only  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  as  the  leader  of  his  party  on  the  floor 
of  the  house. 

Every  experience  of  Theodore  Roosevelt's 
life  has  been  a  means  of  education.  While 
it  was  impossible  that  he  should  ever  abate 
a  jot  or  tittle  of  his  straightforward,  outspoken 
honesty  and  his  insistence  upon  a  square 
deal  in  everything,  he  was  not  long  in 
awaking  to  the  truth  that  alone  and  single- 
handed  he  could  do  precious  little  good  for 
many  of  the  objects  that  were  dearest  to  him. 
No  man  can  be  a  successful  politician  who 
11  goes  it  alone."  President  Lincoln's  great- 
ness was  largely  due  to  a  realization  of  this 
truth,  and  none  ever  surpassed  him  in  his 
knowledge  of  men.  While  he  knew  when 
to  assume  the  initiative,  he  knew  also  how 
to  bring  others  to  his  support.  To  illustrate, 
it  is  generally  known  that  Senator  Sumner 
of  Massachusetts  often  proved  the  most 
irritating  kind  of  a  thorn  in  the  sides  of  dif- 
ferent Presidents.  He  was  one  of  the  ablest 
members  of  the  United  States  Senate,  but 
he  needed  tactful  handling.  He  had  positive 
views  on  every  public  question  ;  he  was 
profoundly  learned,  a  brilliant  and  persua- 
sive orator,  and  a  debater  of  such  skill  that 


32     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

every  one  acknowledged  his  power.  He 
and  President  Grant  quarreled,  because  the 
latter  did  not  know  how  to  handle  him.  It 
was  just  the  other  way  with  Lincoln.  More 
than  once  when  he  had  a  measure  before 
Congress  and  needed  the  help  of  Sumner, 
he  won  it  by  his  exquisite  tact  in  treating 
the  dogmatic,  irascible  Massachusetts  Sen- 
ator, who  remained  an  ardent  admirer  of  the 
great  President  through  life. 

One  of  Sumner's  pet  fads  was  the  brewing 
of  tea  for  himself  and  intimate  friends.  None 
ever  surpassed  him  in  that  art.  Perhaps, 
when  he  was  sitting  in  his  rooms,  glum  and 
resentful  over  some  bill  of  the  President, 
the  latter  would  drop  in  upon  him  in  the 
course  of  the  evening,  after  Congress  had 
adjourned.  Following  the  mutual  courteous 
greetings,  Lincoln  would  remark  : 

"  Senator,  I'm  worn  out  ;  I  must  have 
some  tonic  that  will  soothe  and  brace  my 
nerves,  and  there's  only  one  thing  in  the 
world  that  will  do  it :  that's  one  of  your 
cups  of  tea.  May  I  have  it  ? " 

Who  could  resist  such  an  appeal  ?  Sumner 
was  flattered,  and  it  did  not  take  him  long 
to  produce  the  nectar,  which  cheered  the 
cockles  of  the  President's  heart.  While 
sipping  it  he  was  loud  in  his  praises,  and 
begged  the  Senator  sometime  to  impart  the 
'  lost  art '  to  him.  It  was  the  most  delicate 


THE  POLITICIAN.  ££ 

kind  of  flattery,  and  the  Senator  beamed 
with  pleasure  to  know  that  his  skill  was  ap- 
preciated. Then  it  was  just  like  Lincoln  to 
insist  that  he  must  have  a  second  cup,  whose 
praises  he  sung  as  ardently  as  in  the  first 
instance. 

"Well,"  he  would  add  with  a  sigh  of  con- 
tent, as  his  ungainly  form  settled  back  in 
his  chair,  "  I  know  where  to  come  for  the 
one  indispensable  panacea  ;  Senator,  you 
don't  know  how  much  good  you  have  done 
me." 

By  and  by,  after  a  little  pleasing  gossip, 
the  caller  would  bring  up  the  measure  in 
which  he  was  interested.  He  would  ask 
the  Senator's  views,  and  no  man  had  a  better 
listener  than  the  dictatorial  Senator,  who 
represented  Massachusetts  so  long  and 
honorably  in  the  highest  branch  of  our  law- 
making  body.  Lincoln  would  present  his 
own  views  ;  they  would  discuss  the  points 
upon  which  they  differed,  the  deference  on 
the  part  of  the  President  being  so  marked  that 
it  was  impossible  for  his  friend  to  take  of- 
fense. The  Senator  began  to  feel  that  it 
would  be  very  pleasant  to  himself,  if  he 
could  agree  with  his  appreciative  caller,  and 
in  the  end  he  did  agree  with  him.  The 
friendship  of  these  two  illustrious  men  con- 
tinued unbroken,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  more  than  many  measures  of  far 
3 


34     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

reaching  importance  to  the  nation  were  car- 
ried to  successful  completion  by  the  supreme 
tact  of  one  of  the  greatest  Presidents  who 
ever  ruled  our  country. 

In  studying  the  character  of  the  admirable 
man  who  was  Roosevelt's  model,  the  latter 
learned  to  understand  the  tact,  skill  and 
finesse  displayed  by  him  from  the  days  when 
he  was  a  comparatively  unknown  lawyer 
in  the  West.  The  man  who  won  Senator 
Sumner  by  asking  him  to  brew  him  a  cup 
of  tea,  who  defied  the  merciless  radicals, 
who  compelled  agreement  by  his  exalted, 
wise  and  self-sacrificing  patriotism,  was  a 
politician  in  the  highest  sense.  It  was  he 
who  when  the  defeat  of  one  of  his  schemes 
was  threatened,  broke  up  a  quorum  by  leap- 
ing out  of  a  window,  and  who  never  failed 
in  his  knowledge  of  the  best  method  of 
handling  friends  and  foes.  Roosevelt  knew 
that  all  good  men  would  yield  respect  to 
his  unswerving  integrity  and  straightforward- 
ness of  purpose,  but  what  substantial,  lasting 
good  could  he  hope  to  accomplish  so  long 
as  he  stood  and  fought  alone  ?  Leonidas 
won  undying  glory  at  Thermopylae,  but  he 
failed  to  turn  back  the  tide  of  Persian  inva- 
sion. So  the  brilliant  young  knight  might 
assail  windmills  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  the 
world  be  none  the  better  therefor. 

Accordingly,  Roosevelt  applied  the  lesson 


THE  POLITICIAN.  35 

taught  by  Lincoln,  and  indeed  by  all  sue- 
cessful  politicians.  He  would  never  sacrifice 
his  own  principles,  and  when  he  and  others 
differed,  he  would  not  only  acknowledge 
that  many  of  them  were  as  conscientious  as 
he,  yet  if  they  were  really  good  men,  there 
were  many  points  in  common  between  him 
and  them.  They  could  agree  upon  certain 
measures  whose  wisdom  was  beyond  ques- 
tion. By  uniting  their  forces,  such  measures 
could  be  carried  through  to  success.  It 
would  not  do  to  ignore  at  all  times  the  ques- 
tion of  expediency.  If  it  became  necessary 
to  strike  a  crushing  blow,  it  might  be  made 
more  crushing  by  striking  at  the  psycholo- 
gical moment.  And  that  is  what  Theodore 
Roosevelt  learned  to  do.  He  made  his 
political  combinations,  and,  without  the 
sacrifice  or  yielding  of  a  single  principle  in- 
herent in  his  nature,  he  became  a  living, 
vital  force  in  the  politics  of  his  country. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE     REPUBLICAN     PRESIDENTIAL     CONVEN- 
TION  OF    1884. 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  served  three  terms 
as  a  member  of  the  Assembly  of  his  native 
State.  He  was  re-elected  each  time  by  an 
emphatic  majority,  and  also  helped  by  the 
votes  of  those  who  sent  William  Waldorf 
Astor  into  exile,  from  a  district  where  the 
predominant  party  was  that  upon  whose 
ticket  the  aristocrat  had  been  nominated. 
By  this  time  the  aggressive  knight  had  be- 
come a  national  figure  in  politics,  and  was 
appointed  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  the 
leader  of  the  New  York  Republican  delega- 
tion to  the  National  Convention,  which  was 
to  nominate  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency. 

The  assemblage  of  no  public  body  of  men 
creates  such  intense  though  short-lived  in- 
terest throughout  the  country  as  that  which 
names  the  standard-bearer  of  one  of  the 
great  political  parties.  As  a  rule  (though 
exceptions  are  not  wanting),  it  is  not  known 
who  will  be  the  candidate.  A  number  of 
36 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CONVENTION  OF  1884.    3? 

prominent  leaders  are  rivals  for  the  nomina- 
tion and  their  friends  have  long  urged  their 
claims  with  all  possible  earnestness.  Each 
one  goes  before  the  convention  with  a 
number  of  votes  pledged,  and  each  is  hope- 
ful that,  as  the  voting  progresses,  deals  and 
combinations  may  be  made  by  which  he 
will  carry  off  the  prize.  It  is  a  great  day  for 
"  favorite  sons." 

The  National  Republican  Convention  of 
1884  will  always  hold  a  prominent  place  in 
the  political  history  of  our  country,  and  it 
calls  for  attention  because  of  the  peculiar 
position  in  which  it  placed  Theodore  Roose- 
velt. For  months  before  the  day  set  for 
the  assembling,  the  current  had  been  setting 
strongly  in  favor  of  James  G.  Elaine,  and  it 
was  quite  certain  that,  barring  the  unex- 
pected, that  gifted  statesman  would  be 
chosen.  No  man  ever  had  more  devoted 
friends,  and,  it  may  be  added,  none  ever 
had  more  bitter  enemies.  There  seemed  to 
be  no  common  ground  upon  which  adherents 
and  opponents  could  meet. 

Born  in  Pennsylvania,  in  1830,  Elaine 
removed  when  a  )roung  man  to  Augusta, 
Maine,  where  he  was  editor  for  a  time  and 
served  four  years  as  a  member  of  the  State 
Legislature.  He  entered  Congress  in  1862 
and  remained  continuously  for  seven  terms, 
during  three  years  of  which  he  was  Speaker 


38     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

He  was  the  leading  presidential  candidate 
at  the  Convention  of  1876,  his  vote  on  the 
first  ballot  being  more  than  four  times  as 
great  as  that  of  R.  B.  Hayes  and  more  than 
double  that  of  any  other  candidate.  But 
through  one  of  those  combinations  referred 
to,  Hayes  in  the  end  was  successful. 

In  1880,  Blaine  was  again  a  prominent 
candidate,  but  failed  to  secure  enough  votes 
and  the  nomination  went  to  Garfield,  who 
was  elected  and  made  Blaine  his  Secretary 
of  State.  Among  the  adherents  of  Blaine, 
it  was  felt  that  the  honor  now  belonged  to 
him. 

The  trouble,  however,  was  that  a  great 
many  people  believed  Elaine's  public  career 
was  tainted  by  corruption.  The  investiga- 
tion had  not  cleared  his  garments  of  the 
smell  of  fire.  Thousands  declared  that,  in 
the  event  of  his  nomination,  they  would 
cast  their  votes  for  Grover  Cleveland,  the 
Democratic  nominee.  Some  of  those  who 
thus  threatened  were  among  the  foremost 
members  of  the  Republican  party. 

Roosevelt  went  to  Chicago  as  an  ardent 
advocate  of  Senator  George  F.  Edmunds,  of 
Vermont.  He  was  placed  in  nomination  by 
Governor  Long,  of  Massachusetts,  who,  in 
the  course  of  an  eloquent  tribute,  said  : 
"  Calumny  dare  not  assail  him  ;  or,  if  it 
dared,  recoils  as  from  a  galvanic  shock. 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CONVENTION  OF  1884.     39 

Against  no  other  candidate  can  less  be  said 
than  against  him.  For  no  other  candidate 
can  more  be  said.  .  .  .  His  name  is  presented 
by  an  intelligent  press  from  Maine  to  Cali- 
fornia, representing  a  healthy  public  senti- 
ment and  an  advanced  public  demand.  It 
is  the  name  which  in  itself  is  a  guarantee  of 
inflexible  honesty  in  government,  and  of  the 
best  and  wisest  Cabinet  the  country  can 
afford,  with  no  man  in  it  greater  than  its 
head.  It  is  the  guarantee  of  appointment  to 
office,  fit,  clean,  and  disinterested  all  the 
way  through  ;  a  guarantee  of  an  administra- 
tion which  I  believe,  and  which  in  your 
hearts  you  know,  will  realize,  not  only  at 
home  but  abroad,  the  very  highest  concep- 
tion of  American  citizenship."  In  second- 
ing the  nomination,  George  William  Curtis, 
of  New  York,  was  equally  eloquent. 

The  number  of  votes  necessary  to  a  choice 
was  411.  The  first  ballot  gave  Elaine  334, 
Arthur,  278;  Edmunds,  93  ;  John  Sherman, 
30,  and  William  T.  Sherman,  2.  Murat  Hal- 
stead  says  that  Elaine  had  communicated  to 
several  friends  on  the  floor,  among  them 
Mr.  Halstead  himself,  that  he  did  not  wish 
the  nomination,  and  did  not  believe  he  could 
win  if  nominated,  especially  as  he  knew  the 
vote  of  New  York  would  be  cast  against 
him.  "  Nominate  William  Tecumseh  Sher- 
man," said  Elaine,  and  Robert  Todd  Lin- 


40     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

coin  for  Vice-President,  and  they  will  be 
elected  by  the  singing  of  a  song." 

Changes  naturally  occurred,  without  bring- 
ing success  to  any  candidate  until  the  fourth 
and  final  ballot.  On  this  ballot  New  York 
east  30  votes  for  Arthur,  29  for  Elaine,  9  for 
Edmunds,  one  for  Hawley,  and  one  for 
Lincoln.  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  spoken  several 
times  during  the  proceedings,  mainly  on 
questions  of  order,  but  made  no  speech  in 
favor  of  Edmunds,  for  whom  he  voted  to 
the  end.  On  the  last  ballot,  John  B.  Fora- 
ker,  of  Ohio,  withdrew  the  name  of  John 
Sherman,  and  cast  the  46  votes  of  his  State 
for  Elaine.  This  made  his  total  541,  and  of 
course  brought  his  nomination,  which  was 
speedily  made  unanimous. 

The  campaign  of  1884  was  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  in  our  political  history. 
Many  of  those  who  declared  that  in  no  cir- 
cumstances would  they  support  Elaine, 
made  these  threats  good.  Curtis  of  New 
York,  Carl  Schurz,  and  other  noted  Repub- 
licans, wrote  and  spoke  against  his  candi- 
dacy. They  claimed  that  his  election  would 
give  the  lie  to  the  Republican  professions  of 
reform,  purity,  and  the  elevation  of  politics. 
Aiming  to  be  consistent,  they  advocated  the 
election  of  Cleveland. 

And  where  stood  Theodore  Roosevelt  on 
this  burning  question  ? 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CONVENTION  OF  1884.    41 

His  principles  would  not  permit  him  to 
go  over  to  the  Democracy,  but  all  his  politi- 
cal labors  for  the  past  years— and,  to  quote 
his  favorite  word— they  had  been  "  stren- 
uous "  years,  had  been  given  heart  and  soul 
to  reform.  Having  learned  well  the  lesson 
of  Abraham  Lincoln's  tactful  wisdom,  he 
effected  much  by  wise  combinations  with 
others,  without  which  he  never  would  have 
accomplished  much.  Should  he  turn  his 
back  upon  his  own  record,  and  ally  himself 
with  the  forces  against  which  he  had  fought  ? 

Moreover,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
some  of  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party  did  not  command  Roosevelt's  full  sup- 
port. At  Harvard  he  was  reared  in  the 
doctrine  of  free  trade.  The  distinguishing 
policy  of  the  Republicans  was  high  protec- 
tion. He  might  come  to  that,  however,  in 
time,  but  he  could  never  agree  that  the 
South  should  be  eternally  punished  because 
of  her  mistaken  act  of  secession.  He  be- 
lieved it  was  the  principles  of  that  party 
which  had  carried  the  country  safely  through 
the  stupendous  struggle  for  the  Union,  and 
he  could  do  better  work  within  its  ranks 
than  elsewhere. 

One  of  the  favorite  recourses  of  the  dis- 
gruntled politician  is  to  "  go  a-fishing  "  as 
the  election  day  approaches,  keeping  out  of 
view  until  the  question  is  settled.  Roose- 


42     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

velt  went  to  his  Dakota  ranch,  not,  however, 
to  sulk  or  to  hold  aloof  from  politics.  He 
was  keenly  disappointed  over  the  nomina- 
tion, but  he  meant  to  take  full  time  for  re- 
flection before  deciding  upon  the  right 
course  for  him  to  follow.  That  decision 
once  reached,  he  could  be  depended  upon  to 
follow  it  bravely  to  the  end,  without  any 
thought  of  consequences  to  himself. 

He  always  found  stirring  times  on  his 
Western  ranch,  but  was  sure  of  many  hours 
under  the  moon  and  stars,  and  in  the  quiet 
of  his  log  cabin,  when  he  could  meditate 
unvexed  by  the  petty  annoyances  of  life 
from  which  he  was  never  free  when  in  the 
East. 

Finally,  an  authoritative  declaration  came 
from  him  : 

"  I  intend  to  vote  the  Republican  presi- 
dential ticket.  A  man  cannot  act  both  with- 
out and  within  his  party  ;  he  can  do  either, 
but  he  cannot  possibly  do  both.  Each 
course  has  its  advantages,  and  one  cannot 
take  the  advantages  or  the  disadvantages 
separately.  I  went  in  with  my  eyes  open 
to  do  what  I  could  within  the  party  ;  I  did 
my  best  and  got  beaten,  and  I  propose  to 
stand  by  the  result.  It  is  impossible  to  com- 
bine the  functions  of  the  guerrilla  chief  with 
those  of  a  colonel  in  the  regular  army  ;  one 
has  greater  independence  of  action,  the 


THE  PRESIDENTIAL  CONVENTION  OF  1884.     43 

other  is  able  to  make  what  action  he  does 
take  vastly  more  effective.  In  certain  con- 
tingencies the  one  can  do  most  good,  in 
certain  contingencies  the  other  ;  but  there 
is  no  use  in  accepting  a  commission  and 
then  trying  to  play  the  game  out  on  a  lone 
hand.  During  the  entire  canvass  for  the 
nomination,  Mr.  Elaine  received  but  two 
checks.  I  had  a  hand  in  both,  and  I  could 
have  had  a  hand  in  neither  had  not  those 
Republicans  who  elected  me  the  head  of  the 
New  York  State  delegation  supposed  that  I 
would  in  good  faith  support  the  man  who  was 
fairly  made  the  Republican  nominee.  I  am 
by  inheritance  and  by  education  a  Repub- 
lican ;  whatever  good  I  have  been  able  to 
accomplish  in  public  life,  has  been  accom- 
plished through  the  Republican  party  ;  I 
have  acted  with  it  in  the  past,  and  I  wish  to 
act  with  it  in  the  future." 

As  evidence  of  the  bitter  spirit  of  some  of 
the  Republican  leaders,  an  expression  of 
Senator  Conkling  may  be  quoted.  He  and 
Elaine  quarreled  in  the  Senate,  and  had 
long  been  personal  enemies.  When  Conk- 
ling  was  asked  to  make  some  speeches  dur- 
ing the  campaign  for  the  ticket,  he  replied 
with  biting  sarcasm :  "I  have  given  up 
criminal  practice." 

Roosevelt  returned  to  the  East  and  made 
several  speeches,  based  on  his  belief  in  the 


44:     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

principles  of  the  Republican  party,  and  the 
conviction  that  the  country  would  be  more 
prosperous  under  its  rule  than  under  that  of 
its  opponents.  He  left  no  doubt  of  his 
earnestness — in  fact  he  never  does — and  did 
all,  and  more  than  could  have  been  expected 
from  him,  for  the  success  of  the  party  which 
had  already  shown  its  bad  faith  in  him.  He 
was  sharply  criticised  by  the  Independents, 
who  accused  him  of  inconsistency,  and  the 
abandonment  of  his  avowed  principles.  To 
these  charges  he  replied  that  it  had  always 
been  his  fortune  to  displease  some  wing  of 
his  party,  and  he  could  no  more  consent  to 
being  controlled  by  the  Independents  than 
by  the  so-called  machine. 

We  all  remember  by  what  a  narrow  mar- 
gin Elaine  was  defeated  in  1884,  his  defeat 
being  due  to  the  untactful  remark  of  a 
New  York  clergyman  at  a  prominent  social 
gathering. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CIVIL  SERVICE    COMMISSIONER. 

OUR  system  of  government  and  politics 
has  been  accompanied  for  a  long  time  by 
one  of  the  most  vexing  of  all  conditions  : 
that  is,  the  changes  in  office  which,  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree  have  attended  nearly 
every  shift  of  administration  for  nearly  a 
century  past.  Thousands  of  those  who 
11  whoop  it  up  "  for  a  candidate,  do  so  in 
the  hope  that,  if  successful,  they  will  be 
paid  therefor,  when  their  party  comes  into 
power.  Since  there  are  never  enough 
offices  to  go  to  a  fractional  part  of  the  way 
round,  a  multitude  are  sure  to  be  disap- 
pointed ;  they  sulk,  and  are  ready  to  believe 
the  country  is  going  to  the  dogs.  The  few 
successful  applicants  are  correspondingly 
elated,  and  are  equally  certain  that  our  glori- 
ous Union  is  on  the  high-road  to  prosperity. 

Here,  then,  is  the  simple  problem  :  Should 
the  incumbents  of  offices  be  removed  for  no 
other  reason  than  that  their  politics  differ 
from  those  of  the  administration  under 
which  they  are  serving  ?  Those  who  main- 
45 


46     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

tain  the  affirmative  do  so  on  the  seemingly 
reasonable  ground  that  the  President  should 
reward  those  who  do  the  most  to  bring 
about  his  election.  Without  their  labors  he 
never  would  have  attained  his  high  office  ; 
it  follows,  therefore,  that  he  is  under  obli- 
gation to  acknowledge  such  labor  to  the 
extent  of  his  ability. 

This  argument,  we  repeat,  sounds  reason- 
able, but  it  is  specious,  and  the  essence  of 
selfishness.  He  who  believes  it  thinks  only 
of  his  own  personal  interests  alone,  and 
cares  nothing  for  those  of  his  country. 
Patriotism  demands  that  one's  country  should 
hold  first  place  in  the  regard  of  her  citizens. 
They  should  consider  what  is  best  for  it,  and 
place  personal  consideration  last.  Exactly 
the  opposite  is  done  by  those  who  clamor 
for  political  reward. 

Nothing  is  clearer  than  that  an  educated 
man  of  experience  in  any  office  is  better 
qualified  to  perform  its  duties  than  another, 
who,  possessing  equal  education,  has  had  no 
experience  in  such  office.  The  true  welfare 
of  the  country  therefore  demands  that  the 
experienced  incumbent  should  be  retained, 
so  long  as  he  does  his  work  acceptably. 
Moreover,  no  person  should  be  appointed 
who  has  not  proved  his  fitness,  so  far  as  it 
can  be  proved,  by  a  rigid  test,  and  when 
once  appointed,  he  should  be  secure  against 


CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSIONED.  4.7 

removal,  with  the  proviso  just  stated,  no 
matter  what  his  politics  may  be.  Sueh  is 
the  gist  of  civil  service  reform,— a  policy  long 
advocated,  when  many  of  those  who  advo- 
cated it  were  insincere,  and  made  sure  that 
it  lay  inoperative  when  it  could  be  used 
against  their  interests. 

In  1851,  Senator  William  L.  Marcy,  of 
New  York,  in  a  speech  enunciated  the  doc- 
trine, "To  the  victors  belong  the  spoils." 
It  struck  fire  in  the  hearts  of  responsive 
thousands,  and  was  enthusiastically  adopted 
by  them.  President  Andrew  Jackson  was 
the  most  remarkable  exemplar  ot  this  policy. 
During  his  first  year  as  Chief  Executive,  he 
made  two  thousand  changes  in  office,  while 
the  whole  number  effected  by  his  predeces- 
sors was  only  seventy-four.  Madison ,  before 
his  election,  often  declared  that  no  removal 
should  ever  take  place  without  cause,  and 
the  younger  Adams  and  Monroe  held  the 
same  view.  A  potent  cause  for  the  few 
early  removals,  however,  was  the  long  con- 
tinuance of  the  same  party  in  power.  Jack- 
son merely  put  into  operation  a  practice  that 
had  slumbered,  but  was  never  really  dead. 
We  are  in  the  habit  of  dating  the  spoils 
system  from  his  day,  whereas  it  has  virtually 
existed  from  the  formation  of  the  govern- 
ment itself,  and  its  displacement  is  o* 
modern  date. 


48     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

The  spoils  system  grew  to  appalling  pro- 
portions. It  was  criminal  folly  that  the  time 
of  a  President,  which  belonged  to  his  coun- 
try, should  be  stolen  from  him  by  the  eter- 
nal demands  of  office-seekers.  The  clamor 
of  these  people  nearly  drove  President  W.  H, 
Harrison  frantic,  and  was  one  of  the  causes 
of  his  early  death.  The  nuisance  was  an 
intolerable  burden  to  his  successors,  until  it 
became  absolutely  necessary  that  something 
should  be  done  to  remove  the  torment. 
President  Benjamin  Harrison  and  Cleve- 
land were  urgent  advocates  of  the  change, 
and  the  former  in  May,  1889,  appointed 
Theodore  Roosevelt  a  member  of  the  Na- 
tional Civil  Service  Commission,  the  only 
other  commissioner  being  Charles  Lyman, 
of  Connecticut.  Hugh  S.  Thompson,  ex- 
Governor  of  South  Carolina,  took  the  office 
at  the  same  time  with  Roosevelt,  resigning 
after  three  years'  service.  His  successor 
was  George  D.  Johnston,  of  Louisiana,  re- 
moved in  1893,  and  succeeded  by  John  R. 
Proctor,  who  had  been  State  Geologist  of 
Kentucky. 

Roosevelt  served  for  six  years,  during  most 
of  which  time  his  forceful  character  made 
him  the  virtual  head  of  the  Commission. 
The  policy  had  bitter  enemies  from  the  be- 
ginning. Some  of  these  opponents  were 
leaders  in  both  parties,  from  whom  support 


CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSIONER.  4$ 

had  been  expected.  In  the  Century  Magazine 
of  February,  1900,  Mr.  Roosevelt  gave  the 
following  clear  statement  of  his  views  on 
this  important  question  : 

"If  a  party  victory  meant  that  all  the 
offices  already  filled  by  the  most  competent 
members  of  the  defeated  party  were  to  be 
thereafter  rilled  by  the  most  competent  mem- 
bers of  the  victorious  party,  the  system 
would  still  be  absurd,  but  would  not  be  par- 
ticularly baneful.  In  reality,  however,  this 
is  not  what  the  system  of  partisan  appoint- 
ments means  at  all.  Wherever  it  is  adopted 
it  is  inevitable  that  the  degree  of  party 
service,  or  more  often  of  service  to  some 
particular  leader,  and  not  merit,  shall  ulti- 
mately determine  the  appointment,  even  as 
among  the  different  party  candidates  them- 
selves. Once  admit  that  it  is  proper  to  turn 
out  an  efficient  Republican  clerk  in  order  to 
replace  him  by  an  efficient  Democratic  clerk, 
or  vice  versa,  and  the  inevitable  next  step  is 
to  consider  solely  Republicanism  or  Democ- 
racy, and  not  efficiency,  in  making  the  ap- 
pointment ;  while  the  equally  inevitable 
third  step  is  to  consider  that  peculiar  species 
of  Republicanism  or  Democracy  which  is 
implied  in  adroit  and  unscrupulous  service 
rendered  to  the  most  influential  local  boss." 

One  year  later,  Commissioner  Roosevelt  in 
the  Atlantic  Monthly  said  :  "  We  have  sue 

4 


50     FROM  THE  fcANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

ceeded  in  getting  such  a  number  of  applica- 
tions from  the  Southern  States  to  enter  our 
examinations  that  these  States  have  now  re- 
ceived their  full  share  of  appointments  in 
the  departmental  service  at  Washington  ; 
and  the  most  gratifying  feature  about  this  is 
that  the  great  bulk  of  the  men  and  women 
thus  appointed  to  position  in  the  Govern- 
ment service  from  these  States  are  politically 
opposed  to  the  party  in  power." 

He  named  the  chief  difficulties  that  had 
to  be  met. 

"  Facing  the  intense  and  interested  hos- 
tility of  the  great  mass  of  the  self-seeking 
politicians,  and  of  the  much  larger  mass  of 
office-seekers,  whose  only  hope  of  acquiring 
office  rests  in  political  influence,  and  is 
immediately  cut  off  by  the  application  of 
any,  even  the  most  modest,  merit  test. 

11  We  have  to  overcome  popular  indif- 
ference or  ignorance,  and  do  constant  battle 
with  that  spirit  of  mean  and  vicious  cyn- 
icism which  so  many  men,  respectable 
enough  in  their  private  life,  assume  as  their 
attitude  in  public  affairs. 

"  The  slowness  with  which  the  popular 
mind  takes  to  any  new  theory,  and  from  its 
inability,  by  no  means  wholly  unnatural,  tc 
discriminate  between  the  branches  of  the 
service  where  the  law  applies  and  those 
where  it  does  not." 


CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSIONER.  51 

Roosevelt  and  his  brother  Commissioners 
toiled  all  the  harder  to  meet  and  overcome 
these  obstacles.  Their  success  was  greater 
than  most  of  their  ardent  friends  expected, 
but  not  greater  than  the  Commissioners 
looked  for.  They  knew  the  task  before 
them,  and  they  applied  not  only  vigor,  but 
patience  and  brains.  In  July,  Louisiana  was 
the  farthest  behind  in  its  apportionment,  hav- 
ing had  only  about  one-half  of  the  number  to 
which  she  was  entitled.  Four  months  later 
she  had  two  more  than  her  quota,  and  the 
South  was  about  equal  to  the  North.  All 
applicants  were  examined  and  marked  with 
strict  impartiality,  and  in  nine  cases  out  of 
ten  the  appointing  officers  chose  the  men  in 
the  order  of  their  standing. 

Commissioner  Roosevelt  called  attention 
to  the  fact  that  one-fourth  of  the  Southern 
appointees  were  colored,  most  of  them  being 
graduates  of  colleges  established  for  their 
race.  Two-thirds  were  native  born  South- 
ern whites.  Only  in  rare  instances  was  the 
objectionable  African  politician  successful  in 
securing  an  appointment.  With  very  few 
exceptions,  the  whites  were  Democrats. 

The  most  beneficent  policy  cannot  escape 
abuse,  and  some  of  the  hardest  blows  given 
to  civil  service  reform  were  inflicted  by  its 
friends.  A  newspaper  said  that  none  but 
Republicans  would  receive  favors  during  a 


52     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

Republican  administration.  Mr.  Roosevelt 
called  the  representatives  of  the  leading 
Southern  journals  before  him,  and  said  : 

"  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  help  me  dispel 
this  illusion,  and  at  the  same  time  aid 
your  own  people.  I  have  been  looking 
over  the  list  of  appointments  from  our  regis- 
ters, and,  whereas  the  Northern  and  West- 
ern States  have  their  quotas  full,  and  some 
of  them  overflowing,  the  South  is  short  of 
its  share.  I  wish  that  each  of  you  would 
publish  in  the  most  emphatic  manner  the 
statement  that  it  is  my  desire  that  the  young 
men  of  the  South  should  come  forward,  irre- 
spective of  politics,  and  take  our  examina- 
tions. I  assume,  on  general  principles,  that 
most  of  your  educated  young  men  are  Demo- 
crats ;  but  you  may  give  them  my  absolute 
guaranty  that  they  will  receive  the  same  con- 
sideration in  every  respect  as  the  young  men 
in  other  parts  of  the  country,  that  no  one 
will  inquire  what  their  politics  are,  and  that 
they  will  be  appointed  according  to  their 
deserts  and  in  the  regular  order  of  appor- 
tionment. This  is  an  institution  not  for  Re- 
publicans, and  not  for  Democrats,  but  for 
the  whole  American  people.  It  belongs  to 
them,  and  will  be  administered,  as  long  as  I 
stay  here,  in  their  interest  without  dis- 
crimination." 

The  inevitable  effect  followed,  and,  as  has 


CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSIONER.  53 

been  intimated,  the  ardent  response  of  the 
South  speedily  filled  up  her  quota  of  ap- 
pointments. Roosevelt  was  subjected  to  all 
sorts  of  petty  annoyances.  Attempts  would 
be  made  in  the  House  of  Representatives  to 
cut  off  the  appropriation.  When  that  failed, 
perhaps  it  would  be  reduced,  so  as  to  make 
it  impossible  for  the  Commissioners  fully 
to  carry  out  their  plans.  Roosevelt  cleverly 
checkmated  one  of  these  persecutions.  Find- 
ing that  the  paring  down  of  the  appropria- 
tion would  compel  him  to  abandon  certain 
portions  of  the  country,  he  cut  out  the  dis- 
tricts represented  by  the  members  who  had 
voted  for  the  reduction.  He  explained  to 
these  gentlemen  that,  inasmuch  as  some  of 
the  districts  had  to  be  left  out,  they  must 
admit  the  justice  of  omitting  those  that  had 
chosen  Representatives  who  were  opposed 
to  civil  service  reform.  Then  these  same 
gentlemen  heard  from  their  constituents, 
and  though  threats  were  made  of  the  re- 
moval of  the  daring  Commissioner,  he  was 
not  disturbed,  nor  did  the  Commission  fail 
to  get  its  full  appropriation  thereafter. 

One  day  Senator  Gorman,  of  Maryland, 
in  a  sarcastic  speech  said  that  a  bright 
young  man  in  Baltimore  applied  for  a  situa- 
tion as  letter-carrier.  Among  the  questions 
asked  him  on  his  examination  was  as  to  the 
most  direct  route  from  Baltimore  to  Japan. 


54     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

Failing  to  answer  that  and  several  other 
absurd  questions,  he  was  rejected.  Mr. 
Roosevelt  sent  a  request  to  the  Senator  for 
the  date  and  place  of  the  examination  re- 
ferred to,  accompanied  by  an  invitation  of 
the  Senator  to  inspect  all  the  examination 
papers  for  letter-carriers,  and  to  point  out 
the  question  which  had  been  quoted.  The 
dignified  Senator  paid  no  attention  to  the 
impudent  request,  even  when  it  was  re- 
peated, whereupon  Mr.  Roosevelt  took  his 
turn  in  the  press  in  the  following  fashion  : 

"  High-minded,  sensitive  Mr.  Gorman  ! 
Clinging,  trustful  Mr.  Gorman  !  Nothing 
could  shake  his  belief  in  that  '  bright  young 
man.'  Apparently,  he  did  not  even  try  to 
find  out  his  name — if  he  had  a  name  ;  in 
fact,  his  name,  like  everything  else  about 
him,  remains  to  this  day  wrapped  in  the 
Stygian  mantle  of  an  abyssmal  mystery. 
Still  less  has  Mr.  Gorman  tried  to  verify  the 
statements  made  to  him.  It  is  enough  for 
him  that  they  were  made.  No  harsh  sus- 
picion, no  stern  demand  for  evidence  or 
proof,  appeals  to  his  artless  and  unspoiled 
soul.  He  believes  whatever  he  is  told,  even 
when  he  has  forgotten  the  name  of  the 
teller,  or  never  knew  it.  It  would  indeed 
be  difficult  to  find  an  instance  of  a  more 
abiding  confidence  in  human  nature — even 
in  anonymous  human  nature.  And  this  is 


CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSIONER.  55 

the  end  of  the  tale  of  Arcadian  Mr.  Gorman 
and  his  elusive  friend,  the  bright  young  man 
without  a  name." 

One  of  the  cleverest  things  done  by  Roose- 
velt, which  proved  an  efficient  means  of 
quenching  the  unreasoning  opposition,  was 
his  order  that  the  examinations  for  depart- 
mental situations  should  be  held  in  the  dif- 
ferent States  instead  of  at  the  Capital.  When 
a  Congressman  whose  politics  were  opposed 
to  the  administration  came  to  Washington 
and  met  a  young  man  from  home  who  had 
secured  a  government  appointment,  the  Con* 
gressman  glowed  with  delight  and  made  up 
his  mind  that  a  policy  which  worked  in 
such  a  gratifying  fashion  wasn't  such  a  bad 
policy  after  all.  Wherefore  he  became  an 
ardent  friend  and  supporter  of  civil  service 
reform. 

There  is  always  an  amusing  side  to  the 
most  serious  measures.  In  his  testimony, 
Commissioner  Roosevelt  gave  examples  of 
the  replies  to  some  of  the  questions  asked 
during  the  examinations.  Ten  candidates 
said  Abraham  Lincoln  was  President  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy ;  one  said  he  was 
assassinated  by  Thomas  Jefferson,  two  by 
Jefferson  Davis,  one  by  Garfield,  three  by 
Guiteau,  and  one  by  Ballington  Booth.  This 
was  the  gravest  charge  ever  brought  against 
the  great  evangelist.  Another  candidate, 


56     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

when  asked  to  name  several  States  that  be- 
longed to  the  Southern  Confederacy,  men- 
tioned Montana,  Idaho,  Wyoming,  Utah, 
and  Nevada.  Among  the  replies  for  a  list  of 
the  New  England  States,  two  deserve  special 
notice.  The  first  named  New  York,  Albany, 
Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  and  Delaware  ; 
and  the  other,  England,  Scotland,  Ireland, 
Wales,  and  Cork. 

When  some  one  remarked  to  Roosevelt 
that  he  doubted  whether  he  could  success- 
fully pass  a  successful  civil  service  examina- 
tion, he  replied  that  he  had  no  doubt  what- 
ever on  the  point :  he  knew  he  couldn't, 
but,  all  the  same,  he  knew  how  to  conduct 
the  examination,  which  was  all  that  was  re- 
quired of  him.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  two  of  the  men  who  thought  that  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  had  been  at  the  head  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  did  so  well  with  the 
other  questions  that  they  passed  and  ranked 
among  the  very  best  officers  on  the  police 
force  of  New  York.  The  correct  position 
held  by  the  examiners  was  that  the  tests 
were  aimed  to  demonstrate  the  intelligence 
of  the  candidates.  They  might  make  absurd 
answers  to  some  questions,  and  yet  display  a 
brightness  otherwise  that  entitled  them  to 
appointment. 

As  proof  of  the  common  sense  used  by 
Roosevelt  and  his  associates,  the  rule  adopted 


CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSIONER.  57 

for  the  examination  of  customs  inspectors  on 
the  Texas  border  may  be  cited.  A  man 
might  obtain  a  perfect  percentage  in  scholar- 
ship and  yet  be  perfectly  unfit  for  the  office. 
"  You  want,"  said  Roosevelt,  "  to  have  a  man 
who  is  a  first-rate  horseman,  who  knows 
about  brands,  who  is  a  good  shot,  and  is  able 
to  write  a  clear  report.  First  of  all,  you 
have  to  get  recommendations  of  character, 
of  course.  Then  I  wanted  to  have  enough 
of  a  written  examination  to  test  the  candi- 
date's handwriting,  his  arithmetic  and  his 
capacity  to  write  a  good  letter,  and  then  to 
test  his  revolver  shooting,  exactly  as  they  do 
on  the  range.  On  a  range,  as  you  know,  the 
results  of  the  competition  are  put  down 
numerically.  Such  and  such  a  man  gets  87 
out  of  a  possible  hundred,  another  67, 
another  93,  the  bull's-eye  being  marked  5, 
the  next  line  4,  the  next  line  3,  the  next  2, 
and  the  outer  line  i.  That  lent  itself  very 
readily  to  competitive  tests. 

"  Then  for  the  brand  reading  you  have  to 
trust  a  little  bit  to  good  fortune,  but  in 
order  to  show  knowledge  of  horsemanship 
and  cattle,  it  was  only  necessary  to  have 
what  is  a  favorite  test  of  cow-punchers  on 
the  round-up.  Let  each  man  take  any 
horse  he  wishes,— and  if  a  man  has  not  a 
good  horse  he  will  get  one, — turn  loose  a 
steer  for  each  man,  and  test  him  according 


58     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

to  the  rapidity  with  which  he  can  overtake, 
rope,  throw,  and  tie  down  the  steer.  It  was 
not  deemed  practicable  at  that  moment  to  put 
that  competitive  test  in,  especially  as  I  could 
not  get  down  there  to  oversee  it  myself. 
But  it  was  adopted  to  a  certain  extent." 

The  interest  in  civil  service  is  so  general 
throughout  the  country,  that  it  is  well  to 
close  this  chapter  with  some  information  for 
the  guidance  of  those  who  have  ambitions  in 
that  direction.  The  purpose  of  course  is  to 
"  regulate  and  improve  the  civil  service  of 
the  United  States."  The  board  consists  of 
three  Commissioners,  a  chief  Examiner,  a 
Secretary  and  other  employes,  whose  ad- 
dress is  Washington,  D.  C.  They  arrange 
for  practical  examinations  for  testing  the  fit- 
ness of  applicants  for  the  classified  service  ; 
for  the  filling  of  all  vacancies  by  selections 
from  among  those  graded  the  highest ;  for 
the  apportionment  of  appointments  at  Wash- 
ington among  the  States  upon  the  basis  of 
population  ;  for  a  period  of  probation  before 
absolute  appointment ;  that  no  person  in  the 
public  service  shall  be  obliged  to  contribute 
service  or  money  for  political  purposes  ;  and 
that  no  person  in  said  service  has  any  right 
to  use  his  official  authority  or  influence  to 
coerce  the  political  action  of  any  person  or 
body. 

The  number  of  situations  in  the  Execu- 


CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSIONER.  59 

tive  Civil  Service  is  about  310,000,  of  which 
171,807  are  subject  to  competitive  examina- 
tion. The  combined  salaries  of  these  is 
about  $200,000,000  yearly.  The  exceptions 
from  the  operations  of  the  Civil  Service  Act 
are  the  persons  appointed  by  the  President 
and  confirmed  by  the  Senate  ;  persons  em- 
ployed merely  as  laborers,  or  workmen,  in 
addition  to  a  considerable  number  exempted 
for  various  reasons.  Of  these  the  largest 
single  class  are  fourth-class  postmasters,  of 
which  there  are  60,000. 

Applicants  for  examination  must  be  cit- 
izens of  the  United  States,  of  proper  age, 
not  users  of  intoxicants  to  excess,  and  no 
discrimination  is  made  on  account  of  sex, 
color,  or  political  or  religious  opinions.  The 
limitations  of  age  vary  with  different  serv- 
ices, but  do  not  apply  to  any  person  hon- 
orably discharged  from  the  military  or  naval 
service  of  the  United  States  by  reason  of  dis- 
ability resulting  from  wounds  or  sickness 
incurred  in  the  line  of  duty. 

The  examinations  are  open  to  every  one 
qualified  in  respect  to  age,  citizenship,  legal 
residence,  character,  and  health.  As  evi- 
dence of  the  practical  work  done  by  the 
Commission,  it  may  be  stated  that  during  the 
fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1905,  114,553 
persons  were  examined,  83,440  passed,  and 
28,189  were  appointed.  Of  these  10,62.7 


60     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

were  rural  letter-carriers.  Besides  these, 
mechanics  and  workmen  at  navy  yards  are 
appointed  on  registration  tests  of  fitness 
given  by  a  board  of  labor  employment  at 
each  yard.  During  the  year  named,  23,500 
applications  were  made  ;  28,301  were  regis- 
tered, and  10,956  were  appointed.  Some 
600  examinations  were  held,  each  of  which 
involved  different  tests.  Over  two  hundred 
of  these  examinations  included  educational 
tests,  the  others  being  for  mechanical  trades 
or  skilled  occupations,  and  consisting  of 
certificates  of  employers  or  fellow-workmen. 
Examinations  are  held  twice  a  year  in  each 
State  and  Territory,  places  and  dates  of 
which  are  publicly  announced. 

Where  a  vacancy  is  not  filled  by  promo- 
tion, reduction,  transfer,  or  reinstatement, 
the  highest  three  of  the  sex  called  for  on 
the  appropriate  register  are  certified  for  ap- 
pointment, the  apportionment  being  con- 
sidered in  appointments  at  Washington.  If 
there  are  no  eligibles,  or  if  the  work  is  of 
short  duration,  temporary  appointments, 
without  examination,  are  allowable.  The 
number  of  women  who  apply  for  ordinary 
clerical  places,  is  always  greatly  in  excess  of 
the  calls  of  appointing  officers.  The  best 
chances  for  appointments  are  teachers,  ma- 
trons, seamstresses,  and  physicians  in  the 
Indian  service,  for  male  stenographers  and 


CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSIONER.  61 

typewriters,  draughtsmen,  patent  examiners, 
civil,  mechanical,  and  electrical  engineers, 
and  for  technical  and  scientific  experts. 

Certain  preferences  are  given  to  persons 
who  served  in  the  military  or  naval  service 
of  the  United  States,  and  were  discharged  by 
reason  of  disabilities  resulting  from  wounds 
or  sickness  incurred  in  the  line  of  duty. 
They  are  freed  from  all  maximum  age  limita- 
tions, are  eligible  for  appointment  at  a  grade 
of  65,  while  all  others  must  obtain  a  grade 
of  70,  and  are  certified  to  appointing  officers 
before  all  others.  While  subject  to  the 
other  conditions  of  the  rules,  a  veteran  of  the 
Civil  War,  or  of  the  war  with  Spain,  or  the 
widow  of  any  such  person,  or  any  army 
nurse  of  either  war,  may  be  reinstated  with- 
out regard  to  the  length  of  time  he  or  she 
has  been  separated  from  the  service. 

Examinations  are  held  for  places  in  the 
Philippines,  Porto  Rico,  and  Hawaii,  and  for 
the  Isthmian  Canal  service.  By  an  execu- 
tive order,  unclassified  laborers  are  ap- 
pointed after  open,  competitive  examination 
upon  their  physical  condition.  The  Com- 
mission distribute  gratuitously,  manuals  of 
examinations,  giving  places  and  dates  of  ex- 
aminations, rules  by  which  papers  are  rated, 
specimens  of  questions  and  other  general  in- 
formation ;  the  Civil  Service  Act  and  Rules, 
and  the  Annual  Reports  of  the  Commission, 


62     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

which  summarize  the  work  done.  More 
than  a  score  of  the  annual  reports  have 
been  published  and  are  found  in  most  of 
the  public  libraries. 


CHAPTER  V. 

POLICE   COMMISSIONER. 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  was  Civil  Service 
Commissioner,  when  Grover  Cleveland  be- 
came President  of  the  United  States.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  say  that  the  Commissioner 
was  kept  in  place.  President  Cleveland  had 
long  before  learned  to  know  his  man. 

On  May  6,  1895,  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
Frederick  D.  Grant,  and  Andrew  Parker 
were  made  Police  Commissioners  of  the  city 
of  New  York.  Avery  D.  Andrews  had  been 
appointed  about  three  months  previous.  He 
now  became  Treasurer  ;  Grant  was  placed 
on  the  Committee  on  Rules  and  Discipline, 
while  Roosevelt  was  chosen  President  of  the 
Board.  It  was  inevitable  that  a  shaking 
among  the  dry  bones  should  follow,  and 
that  right  speedily. 

The  Police  Department  was  thoroughly 
demoralized.  Corruption  prevailed  more  or 
less  everywhere  ;  "  graft "  was  king  and  dis- 
honesty cut  to  the  bone.  As  a  result  of  in- 
vestigations by  an  extraordinary  Grand  Jury, 
63 


64     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

indictments  had  been  found  against  many 
officers.  There  were  268  vacancies  in  the 
Department,  and  among  the  twenty-six  offi- 
cers under  suspension  on  account  of  indict- 
ments for  crime,  were  five  captains  and  one 
inspector.  Legislative  changes  impended, 
and  the  feeling  among  the  force  was  that  ot 
uncertainty,  and  distrust.  The  situation  was 
such  that  a  number  of  months  were  employed 
in  getting  ready  for  the  new  order  of  things. 
A  resolute  effort  to  enforce  discipline  and 
impartiality  brought  about  the  retirement  of 
a  large  number  of  officers  of  various  grades. 
The  new  police  law  was  meant  to  prevent 
radical  changes  of  any  kind,  and  it  caused 
more  delay.  In  the  course  of  two  months 
the  vacancies  had  grown  to  355,  including  a 
chief,  three  inspectors,  eleven  captains  and 
eleven  sergeants.  By  the  close  of  the  year, 
206  patrolmen  had  been  appointed  and  58 
more  placed  on  probation.  The  Legislature 
added  800  men  to  the  force,  such  addition 
being  imperatively  necessary  in  order  to 
keep  pace,  even  to  a  partial  extent,  with  the 
growth  of  the  metropolis. 

President  Roosevelt  saw  that  radical  steps 
must  be  taken  at  once,  in  order  to  preserve 
discipline  among  the  force.  Gross  derelic- 
tions in  the  performance  of  duty  had  been 
punished  so  lightly  that  the  deterrent  effect 
was  lost.  The  penalties  must  be  sufficient 


POLICE  COMMISSIONER.  65 

to  make  the  offenders  wince.  As  a  conse- 
quence, the  dismissals  were  quadrupled. 
While  stern  punishment,  however,  was  in- 
flicted, rewards  and  promotions  were  be- 
stowed with  the  same  impartiality.  When 
deserved,  honorable  mention  was  made, 
medals  of  honor  given,  and  extra  bars  added 
to  those  previously  bestowed.  A  grizzled 
veteran  of  the  Civil  War  had  received  two 
medals  from  Congress  for  valor,  bore  the 
life-saving  medal,  had  saved  twenty-eight 
lives  at  the  risk  of  his  own,  and  not  once 
had  his  name  appeared  on  the  complaint 
book.  The  Police  Board  rewarded  him  for 
his  splendid  record  by  allowing  him  to  pay 
for  the  uniform  with  which  he  had  to 
replace  the  one  ruined  in  the  performance 
of  duty.  Roosevelt  carried  through  a  reso- 
lution by  which  the  Board  declared  that 
clothes  destroyed  in  risking  one's  life  in  the 
line  of  duty  were  a  badge  of  honor,  which 
the  Board  would  be  only  too  glad  to  replace. 
Many  believed  the  bi-partisan  form  of 
the  Board  would  bring  about  the  best  re- 
sults, but  the  opposite  proved  the  fact.  It 
divided  power  and  responsibility.  "  Not 
only  have  these  two  Legislatures  refused 
to  pass  any  bill,"  said  President  Roose- 
velt, "  which  would  give  us  the  power  to 
rid  the  Department  of  bad  officers,  and  to 
administer  it  with  proper  vigor  and  effi- 
5 


6(5     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

ciency,  but  they  have  actually  made  the  law 
very  much  worse  than  it  formerly  was,  weak- 
ening our  powers  to  do  good  work,  and  ren- 
dering it  more  difficult  to  check  evil  and  to 
center  responsibility.  If  no  other  change  is 
possible,  then  at  least  it  would  be  well  to 
repeal  the  present  law  and  re-enact  the  old 
law,  which  was  in  force  when  the  present 
Board  took  office,  in  May,  1895.  The  old 
law  was  far  preferable  to  the  present  one." 

Among  the  most  difficult  of  the  problems 
which  the  Board  of  Police  is  called  upon  to 
tackle  is  the  enforcement  of  the  excise  law. 
Many  believe  that  it  is  impossible  to  do  so 
thoroughly  and  continuously.  We  are  all 
familiar  with  the  spasms  of  virtue  on  the  part 
of  the  authorities,  and  the  claim  with  some 
show  of  reason  that  the  saloons  are  closed 
in  accordance  with  law,  the  disorderly  houses 
shut  up,  and  gambling  effectually  checked. 
In  other  words,  the  "  lid "  is  on  good  and 
tight.  But  these  paroxysmal  outbursts  rarely 
last  long  ;  the  lid  is  lifted  and  the  town 
becomes  wide  open  as  aforetime. 

President  Roosevelt  determined  that  so 
long  as  the  laws  remained  on  the  statute  books, 
they  should  be  enforced.  President  Grant 
once  said  that  the  quickest  way  to  bring 
about  the  repeal  of  an  obnoxious  law  is  to 
enforce  it.  The  excise  law  held  all  the 
dignity  and  force  of  that  against  burglary 


POLICE  COMMISSIONER.  67 

and  murder,  and,  under  Roosevelt,    could 
never  be  allowed  to  become  a  dead  letter. 

No  one  unacquainted  with  the  facts  can 
comprehend  the  tremendous  difficulty  of 
enforcing  the  excise,  and  gambling  laws. 
The  thousands  of  saloons  in  New  York  rep- 
resent millions  of  dollars  of  invested  cap- 
ital, and  many  of  these  capitalists  are  among 
the  foremost  politicians,  and  stand  high 
in  the  counsels  of  the  leading  party  c  They 
contribute  immense  sums  for  its  success, 
and  in  every  sense  of  the  word  are  the 
powers  behind  the  throne.  The  saloons,  the 
gambling  and  the  disorderly  houses  paid  reg- 
ular tribute  to  the  policemen  on  the  respec- 
tive beats,  the  latter  passed  a  percentage  to 
those  above  them,  until  the  head  received 
his  share.  The  sums  thus  paid  out  by  law- 
breakers, for  the  privilege  of  being  left  free 
to  carry  on  their  unlawful  business,  amounted 
in  the  aggregate  to  millions.  One  day,  a 
sergeant  was  stricken  with  sudden  death. 
In  his  desk  was  found  a  hundred  thousand 
dollars  in  bank  bills,  which  he  had  not  had 
time  to  divide  among  the  officers  for  whom 
the  money  was  intended.  The  saloons 
whose  owners  had  the  temerity  to  refuse 
contributions,  or  who  were  too  poor  to  meet 
the  demands,  were  "  pulled"  without  mercy, 
while  the  wealthy  contributors  made  slight 
pretence  of  obeying  the  law. 


68    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

Roosevelt  and  his  associates  set  to  work 
to  enforce  the  Act  with  vigor  and  imparti- 
ality. He  said  :  "  The  result  was  that,  for 
the  first  time  in  its  history,  the  Excise  law 
was  thoroughly  and  honestly  administered 
in  New  York.  The  means  employed  by  the 
Board  were  perfectly  simple,  and  consisted 
merely  in  insisting  that  the  wealthy  liquor 
sellers  and  those  who  possessed  great  politi- 
cal influence  should  be  treated  precisely  as 
their  weaker  brethren  were  treated.  When 
we  took  office,  there  were  hundreds  of 
saloons  that  were  closed  on  Sunday,  while 
thousands  more  were  open,  only  those  being 
closed  which  did  not  pay  blackmail,  or  whose 
owners,  for  some  reason  or  other,  were 
under  the  protection  of  the  higher  police 
officers,  or  of  influential  politicians  who  had 
power  with  these  officials.  We  enforced 
the  law  with  rigid  equity  upon  all  alike.  In 
consequence,  we  made  all  alike  close.  Yet, 
though  we  shut  the  saloons  on  Sunday,  we 
actually  made  fewer  arrests  than  had  been 
made  before.  In  the  year  previous  to  our 
term  of  office,  over  10,000  persons  were 
arrested  for  violation  of  the  Sunday  law. 
During  the  first  twelve  months  of  our  ad- 
ministration but  5,700  were  arrested.  Yet, 
while  making  4,300  fewer  arrests,  we  en- 
forced obedience  to  a  law  which  never  had 
been  obeyed,  because  for  the  first  time  we 


POLICE  COMMISSIONER.  ££ 

arrested  everybody,  without  regard  to  their 
wealth  or  political  backing,  and  allowed  no 
arrests  to  be  made  for  purposes  of  blackmail 
or  political  intimidation.  The  figures  for  the 
arrests  show,  by  the  way,  that  while  the  num- 
ber of  excise  arrests  fell  off,  the  number  of 
arrests  for  more  important  crimes  increased ; 
a  proof  that  the  police,  while  wearing  upon 
vice,  have  also  warred  more  efficiently  than 
ever  before  against  violent  criminality.  We 
pursued  the  same  tactics  with  gambling 
houses  and  disorderly  houses,  and  with  much 
the  same  success,  in  spite  of  the  scant  help 
we  received  from  a  few  of  the  executive 
and  judicial  officers  of  the  government,  and 
of  the  obstacles  thrown  in  our  way  by  the 
Comptroller." 

One  of  the  pests  of  New  York  had  been 
for  a  long  time  the  tramp  lodging  houses. 
Those  frowsy,  unclean  vagabonds,  who  lived 
by  begging  and  stealing,  because  they  were 
too  lazy  to  work,  herded  like  cattle  in  these 
lodging  houses,  filthy,  vicious  and  demoraliz- 
ing to  the  last  degree.  The  places  were 
breeding  pools  of  crime.  Some  people 
thought  the  police  board  was  cruel  when  it 
stamped  out  these  pest  houses,  because  a 
poor  man  was  thereby  deprived  of  a  place 
to  sleep.  The  common  sense  answer  to  this 
was  that  by  providing  comforts  for  these 
nuisances,  they  were  encouraged  in  beggary 


YO     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

and  thievery.  They  should  be  compelled 
to  go  to  places  where  they  could  be  properly 
dealt  with.  Meanwhile,  the  honest  work- 
ing man  and  woman,  who  was  in  temporary 
need,  would  be  directed  to  charitable  re- 
sorts that  would  always  welcome  them. 

The  extirpation  of  the  tramp  lodging 
houses  was  trifling  compared  with  the  wiping 
out  of  the  blackmailing  and  protecting  vice 
system.  This  was  done  effectively.  Could 
it  but  have  continued  indefinitely,  the  ave- 
rage New  Yorker  might  well  have  suspected, 
if  he  did  not  believe,  that  the  millennium 
had  actually  arrived.  Mr.  Jacob  A.  Riis, 
who  was  a  warm  coadjutor  with  Roosevelt 
in  the  work  among  the  slums  and  who  has 
written  a  loving  tribute  to  the  man,  gives  a 
graphic  picture  of  the  experience  of  his  chief 
in  the  line  of  reform.  Grim  as  was  the  work, 
and  alert  as  was  Roosevelt,  he  made  his  mis- 
takes, and  occasionally  was  outwitted.  One 
of  the  patrolmen  became  such  a  chronic 
offender  that  patience  was  exhausted.  Roose- 
velt sternly  shook  his  head,  when  again  ap- 
pealed to  and  declared  that  the  man  had 
already  received  too  much  leniency,  which 
was  thrown  away  upon  him.  He  was  to  be 
dismissed,  and  all  appeals  against  the  dis- 
missal were  useless. 

The  next  morning  after  this  announce- 
ment, when  the  Commissioner  reached  his 


POLICE  COMMISSIONER.  71 

office  in  Mulberry  Street,  the  patrolman  was 
summoned  before  him.  Sad,  grief  smitten 
and  despairing,  he  walked  slowly  into  the 
dreaded  presence,  bringing  with  him  eleven 
children  of  as  many  sizes  and  ages.  Several 
of  the  youngest  were  sniffling,  all  were 
poorly  dressed  and  the  picture  they  made 
with  the  sighing  father  was  pitiful  indeed. 
He  introduced  them  to  the  Commissioner. 

"Are  they  all  yours?"  asked  the  as- 
tonished President. 

"  Yes,  your  Honor,"  replied  the  patrolman, 
swallowing  a  big  lump  in  his  throat,  "  and 
their  blessed  mother — God  rest  her  soul  ! — 
was  taken  to  heaven  only  a  few  months  ago  ; 
what  will  become  of  the  poor  orphans  now 
when  their  father  loses  his  job  ?" 

The  Commissioner  could  not  resist  such 
an  appeal.  A  man  with  eleven  motherless 
children,  most  of  whom  were  of  a  tender 
age,  was  entitled  to  the  fullest  charity. 

"  I'll  give  you  one  more  chance,  but  you 
mustn't  offend  again,"  said  the  Commis- 
sioner, whose  voice  was  a  trifle  uncertain. 

"  God  bless  you  !  —God  bless  you  !  "  re- 
plied the  father,  as  he  steered  the  wondering 
little  ones  out  of  the  room  and  down  stairs. 

Those  who  were  looking  closely  at  the  face 
of  the  patrolman  as  he  came  out  of  the  awe- 
some room  may  have  noticed  a  significant 
grimace  on  his  face.  It  was  fully  justified, 


72     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

for  of  those  eleven  sniffling  youngsters,  nine 
were  borrowed  from  his  neighbors,  only  two 
being  his  own,  and  their  mother,  we  believe, 
was  never  in  better  health.  Roosevelt  had 
been  beautifully  taken  in,  but  who  shall 
blame  him  therefore  ?  Riis  says  : 

"  Haroun-al-Roosevelt  the  newspapers 
nicknamed  the  President  of  the  New  York 
City  Police  Board,  in  good-natured  banter 
at  his  fashion  of  disciplining  his  men  by 
going  about  at  night  to  see  for  himself  what 
they  are  doing.  In  point  of  fact,  there  is 
much  in  the  methods  of  the  Reform  Board 
to  suggest  the  beneficent  rule  of  the  mythi- 
cal Caliph.  Mayor  Strong's  method  of  solv- 
ing the  most  difficult  problem  with  which 
his  administration  had  to  deal  point  to  his 
possessing  the  faculty  that  made  King 
William  Emperor  of  a  united  Germany — 
that  of  chosing  his  advisers  well,  which  is 
the  very  genius  of  leadership.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  get  four  men  together  better 
fitted  to  do  the  great  work  they  have  to  do 
than  Commissioners  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
Andrew  D.  Parker,  Avery  D.  Andrews  and 
Frederick  D.  Grant.  (A  rather  curious  co- 
incidence that  the  middle  letter  of  each  of 
the  last  three  names  is  the  same).  In  four 
short  weeks  they  have  succeeded  in  impress- 
ing their  purpose  on  a  demoralized  force 
to  an  extent  which  the  timid  citizens  who 


POLICE  COMMISSIONER.  73 

saw  the  old  order  of  things  upset  with  mis- 
giving must  have  thought  incredible.  Prac- 
tically, their  work  is  done  already.  What 
remains  to  be  done  is  important,  but  not 
nearly  so  much  so  as  the  demonstration  to 
the  force,  and  to  the  citizens,  that  the  thing 
was  possible,  that  in  the  struggle  between 
moral  force  and  political  '  pull,'  the  former 
might  win,— must  win,  however  uneven  the 
apparent  odds. 

"This  was  the  issue  from  the  first,  and 
to  the  demonstration  of  it  the  new  Board 
promptly  directed  its  efforts.  It  found  a 
force,  misnamed  the  Finest,  stricken  through 
and  through  with  the  dry  rot  of  politics. 
The  blackmail,  brutality,  shirking,  and  all 
the  rest  were  mere  symptoms  of  the  general 
disorder.  The  very  first  act  of  the  Board- 
viz.,  to  extend  civil  service  rule  to  the  depart- 
ments still  left  open  in  the  department— was 
at  once  an  answer  and  a  challenge  to  the 
politicians  who  swarmed  in  Mulberry  Street, 
confident  of  being  able  to  '  make  a  line '  on 
the  new  men  and  the  new  order  of  things. 
This  effort  they  have  not  abandoned  in  the 
face  of  many  discouragements.  '  The  light 
shineth  in  darkness,  and  the  darkness  com- 
prehended it  not.' 

"  *  You  will  yield  too.  You  are  but  human,' 
said  the  oldest  and  wariest  of  the  politicians, 
as  he  left  Mulberry  Street,  a  beaten  man. 


74     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  answer  was  to  send  to  the 
Board  his  proposition,  which  is  promptly 
adopted  to  close  the  last  avenue  of  the  pol- 
itician to  police  patronage. 

"  '  We  want  the  civil  service  law  applied 
to  appointments  here,'  he  said  in  explana- 
tion, '  not  because  it  is  the  ideal  way,  but 
because  it  is  the  only  way  you  can  knock 
the  politicians  out,  and  you  have  to  do  that 
to  get  anywhere.' 

The  speech  sufficiently  described  Mr. 
Roosevelt.  It  is  in  keeping  with  all  that  has 
ever  been  known  of  him  as  a  public  man. 
Force  and  courage  are  his  conspicuous 
characteristics.  To  the  suggestion  that  the 
retirement  of  the  old  heads  of  the  force 
might  invite  ruffianism  and  disorder,  he 
responded  curtly  '  there  shall  be  order  ; ' 
and  there  is  order.  In  the  Board  his  rest- 
less energy  is  admirably  supplemented  by 
the  cool  head  of  Mr.  Parker— who  with  the 
training  of  a  lawyer  combines  a  keen  intel- 
ligence and  a  breadth  of  view  which  make 
the  two  men,  in  everything  so  different, 
approach  their  task  by  different  paths,  yet 
in  the  same  spirit— and  by  the  untiring  zeal 
and  labors  of  Mayor  Andrews,  the  Treasurer, 
and  Colonel  Grant.  Both  of  these  latter 
officials  possess  the  genius  for  and  the  pa- 
tience with  details,  without  which  effectual 
reforms  of  so  great  a  body  as  the  police  force 


POLICE  COMMISSIONER.  75 

would  be  impossible.  Already  Colonel 
Grant's  overhauling  of  the  Department's 
supply  accounts  has  disclosed  some  of  the 
numerous  small  leaks  through  which  the 
city's  revenues  were  wasted  under  a  cor- 
rupt regime,  and  has  succeeded  in  stopping 
them. 

"  That  the  Board  had  no  cut  and  dried 
theories  of  police  management,  so  far  from 
being  the  hindrance  to  it  which  its  early 
critics  suggested,  has  proved  instead  its 
strongest  point.  It  had  no  traditions  to 
break  from.  '  We  have  no  patent  cure — all 
for  the  Department,'  said  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
speaking  for  his  colleagues.  '  Some  things 
are  plain.  We  want  honesty,  plain,  common 
honesty,  in  the  force,  and  politics  out  of  it. 
For  the  rest,  we  are  willing  to  fit  our  theories 
to  the  facts  as  we  make  them  out.'  Already, 
in  pursuance  of  this  plan,  drunkards  have 
been  made  to  understand  that  the  police 
force  is  no  place  for  them  ;  party  managers, 
that  the  day  of  the  ignorant,  bullying  elec- 
tion officer  is  past.  Promotions  are  made 
on  probation,  not  for  '  influence.'  Police- 
men have  been  made  to  resign  membership 
in  political  clubs.  Reward  follows  as 
swiftly  upon  the  brave  act  as  punishment 
on  misconduct.  The  clubber  knows  that  he 
runs  the  certain  risk  of  prompt  dismissal. 
And  this  is  the  work  of  one  short  month." 


76   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

It  has  been  said  that  when  Mr.  Roosevelt 
set  out  to  learn  whether  the  city  was  prop- 
erly policed,  he  chose  the  most  effective 
hours  for  doing  so.  It  is  not  during  day- 
light or  the  early  evening  that  violent  crime 
is  rampant,  and  that  persons  and  property 
are  in  the  most  need  of  protection,  but  it  is 
in  the  small  hours  of  morning,  when  the 
temptation  of  the  officer  to  shirk  his  duty  is 
strongest.  Naturally,  therefore,  Mr.  Roose- 
velt selected  that  time  to  play  the  role  of 
the  good  and  great  Caliph  of  Bagdad.  The 
sturdy  figure  appeared  here,  there,  every- 
where at  the  most  unexpected  times.  The 
result  even  to  Roosevelt  was  astounding. 
Out  of  every  twelve  policemen,  two  were 
loafing,  and  the  most  persistent  search  failed 
to  find  all.  Those  that  were  brought  to 
light,  were  found  asleep  or  drinking  in  some 
Saloon,  which  itself  was  breaking  the  law. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  say  what  followed,  but 
very  soon  the  streets  of  New  York  were 
better  policed  than  ever  before. 

The  problem  of  rightly  dealing  with 
poverty  is  one  that  promises  always  to  be 
with  us.  The  cure  for  poverty  has  been,  as 
it  will  probably  be,  the  problem  of  the  ages. 
It  has  been  said  that  if  any  man  could  really 
know  the  sufferings,  miseries  and  heart 
breaking  of  half  the  world,  he  would  never 
smile  again.  All  great  cities  contain  multi- 


POLICE  COMMISSIONER.  77 

tudes  of  deserving,  homeless  poor,  who, 
without  assistance,  cannot  secure  the  barest 
necessities  of  life.  Boards  of  charity  are 
formed,  and  what  seems  to  be  the  most 
practical  means  are  adopted  for  their  relief. 
Wealthy  citizens  give  largely,  and  a  vast 
deal  is  done  toward  helping  not  merely  the 
impoverished,  but  those  who  are  suffering 
from  illness  and  disease.  One  of  the  most 
beneficent  features  of  life  in  the  metropolis 
is  the  number  of  hospitals,  where  treatment 
is  given  free.  None  the  less,  there  remain 
thousands  upon  whom  the  burden  of  life 
bears  heavily.  Reference  has  been  made  to 
the  hordes  of  tramps,  whose  presence  is  a 
menace  to  the  community,  and  who  are 
found  in  every  part  of  the  country.  Among 
them  are  hulking,  able-bodied  men,  afflicted 
writh  ravenous  appetites  and  an  eternal 
thirst,  who  beg,  steal  and  sometimes  commit 
shocking  crimes.  For  years,  the  herding  of 
these  pests  in  the  cellars  or  over  the  prisons 
of  police  stations  and  turning  them  loose  in 
the  morning  to  beg  and  steal,  was  not  only 
inhuman  but  dangerous  to  the  community. 
The  foul  nuisance  was  attacked  by  grand 
juries,  academies  of  medicine,  and  philan- 
thropic committees,  but  without  success. 
It  has  been  said  that  the  unspeakable  abom- 
inations of  the  outlet  of  the  Ganges  have 
made  it  the  breeding  spot  of  the  world's 


78     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

pestilences.  The  same  may  be  said  in  a 
lesser  degree  of  the  tramp  lodging  houses 
of  New  York.  There  was  but  a  single  way 
of  abating  the  nuisance  :  that  was  to  stamp 
them  out  and  Roosevelt  stamped  them  out. 
In  the  notorious  "  barracks  "  inMott  Street, 
the  death  rate  quickly  dropped  from  39.56 
in  the  thousand  to  16.28. 

It  may  seem  strange,  and  yet  it  was  not 
strange,  that  no  Police  Commissioner  was  as 
popular  among  the  police,  as  Theodore 
Roosevelt.  A  good  man  commands  the  re- 
spect of  bad  men,  and  though  the  offender 
against  law  may  wince  under  its  blow,  yet 
he  knows  it  is  deserved  and  that  the  hand 
which  smites  is  just  as  quick  to  reward 
merit,  wherever  and  whenever  it  is  met.  In 
other  words,  every  real  man  loves  him  who 
gives  him  a  square  deal. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   WAR  WITH   SPAIN. 

THE  history  of  the  world  does  not  contain 
the  record  of  a  more  righteous  war  than  that 
which  was  waged  by  the  United  States  for  the 
liberation  of  Cuba  from  Spanish  rule.  From 
the  day  that  the  Spaniard  first  set  foot  on 
American  soil,  his  career  has  been  marked  by 
outrage,  spoil,  treachery,  cruelty  and  blood. 
The  early  explorers  who  tramped  through  the 
wilderness  and  across  rivers  and  streams, 
slew  the  poor  natives  in  mere  wantonness. 
Their  lust  for  blood  led  them  to  commit 
crimes,  when  they  could  have  gained  their 
ends  much  better  by  humanity.  As  an 
illustration,  Balboa,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  crossed  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  under  the  guidance  of  natives,  with- 
out whose  help  he  and  his  companions  never 
would  have  been  able  to  discover  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  When  the  Indians  had  finished 
their  work,  and  were  not  likely  to  be  of  more 
help,  Balboa  and  his  men  massacred  them 
all.  So  it  was  all  through  the  years  that  they 
had  a  foothold  on  the  cantinent. 
79 


80     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

The  major  part  of  South  America  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Spaniards,  who,  at  the  time 
to  which  we  refer,  were  the  greatest  maritime 
nation  in  the  world.  But,  as  civilization 
progressed,  the  South  American  countries 
began  their  wars  for  independence  from  the 
tyranny  of  the  kingdom  across  the  ocean. 
They  were  uniformly  successful,  and  before 
the  close  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  Spain  was  driven  from  the  soil 
which  had  been  cursed  so  long  by  her 
presence. 

Now,  while  this  long  and  desperate 
struggle  was  under  way,  many  of  the  loyalists 
who  clung  to  Spain  through  good  and  evil 
report,  and  who  found  themselves  forced  to 
leave  the  countries  which  had  been  their 
home,  went  to  Cuba.  Thus  the  fertile  island 
became  the  refuge  of  loyalists  ;  it  was  Span- 
ish to  the  core,  and  all  that  Spain  had  to 
do  to  retain  that  ardent  loyalty  was  to  treat 
the  Cubans  not  with  one-half,  but  one-tenth 
of  a  degree  of  justice.  The  "  Ever  Faithful 
Isle "  yearned  to  remain  faithful,  and  for 
weary  years,  its  people  submitted  to  be 
ground  into  the  dust,  and  to  suffer  miseries 
that  made  life  a  burden  so  grievous  that  no 
other  people  would  have  borne  it. 

But  Spain  continued  to  play  the  idiot,  in 
addition  to  her  unspeakable  cruelty.  She 
taxed  the  natives  far  beyond  their  ability  to 


THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.  gl 

pay  ;  her  officers  robbed  them  right  and  left ; 
the  plantations  were  plundered,  the  hacien- 
das burned,  and  tens  of  thousands  died  of 
exposure  and  starvation.  There  were  always 
a  few  restless  spirits  in  Cuba,  who  kept  alive 
the  dream  of  independence.  They  started 
incipient  revolts,  but  they  had  no  organiza- 
tion and  the  Spanish  soldiery  crushed  the 
uprisings  with  merciless  rigor.  When  these 
revolts  began  to  look  formidable,  the  author- 
ities fell  back  upon  their  characteristic 
treachery.  They  gave  their  solemn  pledge 
that  the  reforms  for  which  the  Cubans  were 
righting  should  be  granted.  The  insurgents 
would  lay  down  their  arms,  and  when  they 
wrere  powerless,  Spain  would  repudiate  every 
promise  and  resume  her  frightful  cruelty. 
The  last  state  of  Cuba  was  worse  than  the 
first. 

In  the  month  of  February,  1895,  when  the 
patience  of  the  Cubans  was  worn  out,  they 
declared  themselves  independent  of  the 
mother  country.  They  soon  brought  about 
a  better  organization  than  before,  though  of 
course  it  could  bear  no  comparison  to  the 
military  strength  of  Spain.  The  latter  had 
established  her  government  in  the  island 
centuries  before,  and  had  never  loosened  her 
grip  upon  the  throat  of  her  victim.  She  held 
the  cities  and  ports,  against  which  the  in- 
surgents might  pound  with  no  more  effect 
6 


82    FROM  THE:  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

than  the  waves  of  the  ocean  beating  upon  the 
rocks.  The  strength  of  the  patriots  of  ne- 
cessity lay  in  the  interior.  They  were  able 
to  cut  off  detached  bodies  of  troops— some 
of  them  of  considerable  numbers — and  now 
and  then  to  strike  effective  blows.  They 
fought  as  Francis  Marion  the  Swamp  Fox  of 
the  Revolution  fought  in  the  thickets  and 
swamps  of  the  Carolinas.  They  dashed  here, 
there  and  everywhere,  and  kept  the  fires  of 
insurrection  steadily  burning.  By  the  suc- 
ceeding October,  the  revolutionists  had  30,- 
ooo  men  under  arms.  The  Spanish  army 
was  more  than  twice  as  numerous  and  far 
better  armed,  though  many  of  the  troops 
were  unavailable. 

The  pitiful  condition  of  the  Cubans  and 
the  brave  fight  they  were  putting  up  for  free- 
dom won  the  ardent  sympathy  of  the  United 
States,  which  gave  much  secret  help.  Ves- 
sels loaded  with  munitions  of  war  and  volun- 
teers, stole  out  from  different  ports  and  landed 
in  Cuba,  where  they  eagerly  aided  the  in- 
surgents. It  is  a  safe  guess  that  in  more  than 
one  instance,  our  authorities  winked  at  these 
expeditions,  which  technically  were  illegal, 
since  we  were  at  peace  with  Spain.  Many 
public  meetings  were  held,  at  which  glowing 
tributes  were  paid  to  the  patriotism  and 
gallantry  of  the  Cubans,  and  large  sums  of 
money  were  sent  to  them.  The  real  head- 


THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.  83 

quarters  of  the  Cuban  revolutionary  party 
was  in  this  country,  where  it  became  a  great 
power.  Many  members  of  Congress  de- 
manded that  our  government  should  recog- 
nize that  of  Cuba  and  resolutions  to  that 
effect  were  offered.  But  international  law 
rigidly  demands  that  no  government  can  be 
formally  recognized  until  it  succeeds  in  es- 
tablishing a  semblance  of  a  government. 
The  Cubans  had  failed  to  do  this,  and  much 
as  the  United  States  would  have  liked  to  ex- 
tend the  helping  hand  in  the  manner  named, 
it  could  not  do  so. 

But  the  wail  of  the  tortured  island  grew 
louder  and  the  sufferings  of  the  starving 
people  horrified  the  civilized  world.  Here 
were  a  people  at  our  very  doors,  as  may  be 
said,  and  it  was  beyond  belief  that  they 
should  be  wiped  from  the  face  of  the  earth, 
without  the  great  and  mighty  American 
nation  raising  her  mailed  hand  to  strike  down 
the  oppressor. 

A  prominent  English  authority  gave  the 
reasons  for  Cuba's  revolt  in  1868: 

"  Spain  governs  the  island  of  Cuba  with 
an  iron  and  blood-stained  hand.  The 
former  holds  the  latter  deprived  of  political, 
civil,  and  religious  liberties.  Hence  the  un- 
fortunate Cubans  being  illegally  prosecuted 
and  sent  into  exile,  or  executed  by  military 
commissions  in  times  of  peace  ;  hence  their 


84     FROM  THE  RAJfCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

being  kept  from  public  meetings,  and  for- 
bidden to  speak  or  write  of  affairs  of  state  ; 
hence  their  remonstrances  against  the  evils 
that  afflict  them  being  looked  upon  as  the 
proceedings  of  rebels,  from  the  fact  that 
they  are  obliged  to  keep  silence  and  obey  ; 
hence  the  never-ending  plague  of  hungry 
officials  from  Spain  to  devour  the  product 
of  their  industry  and  labor  ;  hence  their  ex- 
clusion from  the  art  of  government ;  hence 
the  restrictions  to  which  public  instruction 
with  them  is  subjected  in  order  to  keep  them 
so  ignorant  as  not  to  be  able  to  know  and  en- 
force their  rights  in  any  shape  or  form  what- 
ever ;  hence  the  navy  and  the  standing 
army,  which  are  kept  in  their  country  at  an 
enormous  expenditure  from  their  own  wealth, 
to  make  them  bend  their  knees  and  submit 
their  necks  to  the  iron  yoke  that  disgraces 
them ;  hence  the  grinding  taxation  under 
which  they  labor,  and  which  would  make 
them  all  perish  in  misery  but  for  the  mar- 
vellous fertility  of  their  soil." 

The  salary  of  the  captain-general  was 
$50,000  with  "  perquisites "  ;  of  the  six 
provincial  governors,  $12,000  each,  also  with 
valuable  perquisites,  of  the  two  archbishops, 
$18,000  each,  with  the  same  valuable  addi- 
tion. Every  one  of  these  officials  was  a 
Spaniard.  The  duty  on  flour  was  so  exces- 
sive that  only  the  wealthy  could  eat  bread  ; 


THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.  85 

every  Cuban  who  received  a  prepaid  letter 
had  to  pay  37!  cents  additional  postage  ;  he 
had  to  pay  $6.39  annually  as  interest  on  the 
national  debt,  while  each  Spaniard  was  re- 
quired to  pay  less  than  one-half  that  sum. 
The  grievances  which  caused  the  American 
colonies  to  revolt  were  but  a  trifle  compared 
to  these.  And  yet  Spain  took  steps  to  add 
to  the  exactions. 

The  culmination  atrocity  was  reached 
when  the  humane  Captain-General,  Field- 
Marshal  Campos  was  recalled  from  Cuba 
and  succeeded  by  Valeriano  Weyler,  one  of 
the  most  bloody  miscreants  who  blacken  the 
pages  of  history.  He  arrived  in  Cuba  in 
February,  1896,  and  by  his  ferocities  soon 
appalled  the  world.  He  made  no  secret  of 
his  policy— the  extermination  of  the  rebels, 
root  and  branch.  He  believed  that  the  only 
way  to  stamp  out  rebellion  was  to  leave  no 
one  to  rebel. 

"  Butcher  Weyler  "  gained  some  successes 
at  first,  and  he  kept  the  cable  hot  with  mes- 
sages to  his  government  of  the  pacification 
of  the  different  provinces.  After  a  time 
these  became  a  jest  at  court,  and  the  Liberal- 
ists  protested  against  the  fiendishness  of  the 
Governor-General. 

Finding  it  impossible  to  check  the  re- 
bellion, Weyler,  as  a  last  resort,  adopted  his 
fearful  policy  of  "  reconcentration."  The 


86     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

people  in  the  county  districts  sympathized 
with  and  to  some  extent  aided  the  revolu- 
tionists, often  because  they  could  not  help 
it.  From  them  were  obtained  the  crops  and 
food  which  enabled  the  rebels  to  maintain 
themselves  in  the  field.  Weyler  ordered 
that  these  people  should  come  into  the 
cities,  and  they  were  driven  thither  in 
droves.  They  could  not  raise  any  food  for 
the  insurgents,  nor  for  themselves  :  all  that 
remained  for  them  was  starvation,  and  they 
starved  by  hundreds  and  thousands.  The 
message  of  President  McKinley  to  Congress, 
April  u,  1898,  summed  up  the  situation  in 
these  forceful  words  : 

"  The  efforts  of  Spain  added  to  the  horrors 
of  the  strife  a  new  and  inhuman  phase,  hap- 
pily unprecedented  in  the  modern  history 
of  civilized  Christian  people.  The  policy  of 
devastation  and  concentration,  inaugurated 
by  Captain-General  Pando  on  October  21, 
1896,  in  the  province  of  Pinar  del  Rio,  was 
thence  extended  to  embrace  all  of  the  island 
to  which  the  power  of  the  Spanish  arms  was 
able  to  reach  by  military  occupation  or  by 
military  operations.  The  peasantry,  includ- 
ing all  dwellers  in  the  open  agricultural 
interior,  were  driven  into  the  garrisoned 
towns  or  isolated  places  held  by  troops. 
The  raising  and  movement  of  provisions  of 
all  kinds  were  interdicted.  The  fields  were 


THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.  87 

laid  waste,  dwellings  unroofed  or  fired,  mills 
destroyed,  and,  in  short,  everything  that 
could  desolate  the  land  and  render  it  unfit 
for  human  habitation  or  support,  was  com- 
manded by  one  or  other  of  the  contending 
parties,  and  executed  by  all  the  powers  at 
their  disposal.  By  the  time  the  present 
administration  took  office,  a  year  ago,  recon- 
centration,  so-called,  had  been  made  effective 
over  the  better  part  of  the  four  central  and 
western  provinces,  Santa  Clara,  Matanzas, 
Havana,  and  Pinar  del  Rio.  The  agricultu- 
ral population,  to  the  estimated  number  of 
300,000  or  more,  was  herded  within  the 
towns  and  their  immediate  vicinage,  deprived 
of  the  means  of  support,  rendered  destitute 
of  shelter,  left  poorly  clad,  and  exposed  to 
the  most  unsanitary  conditions. 

"As  the  scarcity  of  food  increased  with 
the  devastation  of  the  depopulated  areas  of 
production,  destitution  and  want  became 
misery  and  starvation.  Month  by  month 
the  death  rate  increased  in  alarming  ratio. 
By  March,  1897,  according  to  conservative 
estimates,  from  official  Spanish  sources,  the 
mortality  among  the  reconcentrados  from 
starvation  and  the  diseases  thereto  incident 
exceeded  fifty  per  cent,  of  their  total  num- 
ber. No  practical  relief  was  accorded  to  the 
destitute.  The  overburdened  towns,  already 
suffering  from  the  general  dearth,  could  give 


§§     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

no  aid.  So-called  zones  of  cultivation  that 
were  established  within  the  immediate  area 
of  effective  military  control  about  the  cities 
and  fortified  camps,  proved  illusory  as  a 
remedy  for  the  suffering.  The  unfortunates, 
being  for  the  most  part  women  and  children, 
or  aged  and  helpless  men,  enfeebled  by 
disease  and  hunger,  could  not  have  tilled 
the  soil,  without  tool,  seed  or  shelter,  to  pro- 
vide for  their  own  support  or  for  the  supply 
of  the  cities.  Reconcentration  worked  its 
predestined  result.  As  I  said  in  my  message 
of  last  December,  it  was  not  civilized  war- 
fare ;  it  was  extermination.  The  only  peace 
it  could  beget  was  that  of  the  wilderness 
and  the  grave." 

When  the  fearful  news  came  to  our  shores, 
most  people  shook  their  heads  and  refused 
to  believe.  It  was  impossible  that  such 
things  could  be  in  the  closing  years  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Yet  the  horrifying  tid- 
ings was  repeated  so  often  and  upon  such 
authority  that  men  were  compelled  to  credit 
it.  The  condition  of  Cuba  cried  to  the 
heavens  for  vengeance,  and  the  United  States 
could  not  stand  idle  while  this  crime  of  the 
ages  was  consummated  on  her  threshold. 
A  party  of  United  States  Senators  and  Con- 
gressmen visited  Cuba  in  March,  1898,  to 
see  with  their  own  eyes  what  was  to  be  seen. 
Senator  Thurston,  of  Nebraska,  took  his 


THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.  g9 

invalid  wife  with  him.  She  was  so  overcome 
by  what  she  saw  that  she  died  of  the 
shock.  The  Senator,  impressed  to  the  very 
depths  of  his  soul,  said  : 

"  I  shall  refer  to  these  horrible  things  no 
further.  They  are  there  ;  God  pity  me,  I 
have  seen  them  ;  they  will  remain  in  my 
mind  forever,  and  this  is  almost  the  twen- 
tieth century. 

"Christ  died  nineteen  hundred  years  ago, 
and  Spain  is  a  Christian  nation.  She  has 
set  up  more  crosses  in  more  lands,  beneath 
more  skies,  and  under  them  has  butchered 
more  people  than  all  the  other  nations  of  the 
earth  combined. 

"  God  grant  that  before  another  Christmas 
morning  the  last  vestige  of  Spanish  tyranny 
and  oppression  will  have  vanished  from  the 
Western  hemisphere." 

When  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  victims  had 
perished,  our  government  protested.  Spain 
had  deliberately  tortured  to  death  one-sixth 
of  the  population  of  Cuba.  This  assertion 
staggers  belief,  and  yet  it  is  an  awful  truth. 
Incredible  as  it  may  sound,  too,  the  laws  of 
nations  provided  no  remedy ;  for  these 
human  beings  were  not  prisoners  of  war,  for 
whom  Spain  would  have  been  compelled  to 
provide. 

In  answer  to  our  protest,  the  Spanish 
authorities  made  a  pretence  of  assisting  the 


90     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

dying  swarms,  of  Cubans,  but  the  efforts 
amounted  to  very  little,  and  the  sufferings 
and  deaths  went  on  at  the  same  appalling 
rate.  President  McKinley  was  so  moved  by 
the  reports  of  Consul-General  Lee  at  Ha- 
vana that,  soon  after  his  inauguration,  he 
asked  Congress  for  a  grant  of  $50,000  for 
the  relief  of  the  reconcentrados  and  the  re- 
turn to  the  United  States  of  all  Americans 
who  wished  to  leave  the  island.  The  grant 
was  promptly  made  and  the  Red  Cross 
Association  undertook  to  minister  relief  to 
the  perishing  ones.  In  addition,  independ- 
ent movements  were  set  on  foot,  and  an 
enormous  amount  of  supplies  was  forwarded 
to  the  sufferers.  The  authorities  in  Madrid, 
from  very  shame,  voted  $600,000  for  the  re- 
lief of  the  reconcentrados.  When  General 
Lee  was  asked  by  the  Foreign  Relations 
Committee  of  the  United  States  Senate, 
how  much  of  that  appropriation  would  be 
expended  for  the  sufferers,  he  replied  : 

"  Not  one  dollar  ;  every  penny  will  be 
divided  among  the  officials  themselves." 
General  Lee  knew  whereof  he  spoke,  for 
such  has  been  the  unvarying  law  among 
Spaniards.  It  may  as  well  be  added  that 
the  same  thing  was  done  with  the  funds 
that  were  appropriated  for  target  practice. 
The  harvest  was  reaped  at  Manilla  and  off 
Santiago,  as  Russia  whose  leaders  enriched 


THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN.  91 

themselves  in  the  same  manner,  reaped  her 
harvest,  when  she  encountered  the  fleets  of 
Japan. 

One  excellent  result  of  our  protests  was 
the  recall  of  Weyler  in  October,  1897.  The 
Liberal  Party  in  Spain  denounced  his  un- 
speakable brutality,  and  as  soon  as  his  suc- 
cessor arrived  in  Cuba,  he  rescinded  the  re- 
concentrado  order.  The  new  cabinet  which 
was  formed  promised  to  grant  home  rule 
in  Cuba  and  meanwhile  to  push  the  war 
with  the  utmost  vigor. 

This  was  Spain's  old  trick  over  again. 
The  Cubans  were  righting  for  home  rule  and 
could  they  have  felt  any  faith  in  the  pledges 
at  Madrid,  they  would  have  gladly  laid  down 
their  arms  and  closed  hostilities.  But  were 
they  such  fools  as  to  trust  the  authorities 
again  ?  How  long  shall  one  believe  a  man 
who,  times  without  number,  has  proved  him- 
self a  liar  ?  The  Cubans  spurned  the  offer. 

Blanco,  the  successor  of  Weyler  did  his 
best  to  end  the  horrible  condition  of  things, 
but  all  his  humane  efforts  were  so  hampered 
at  home  that  he  was  powerless.  The  re- 
sentment against  the  Madrid  government  in- 
tensified on  the  part  of  Americans  with  the 
deepening  of  their  sympathy  for  the  strug- 
gling Cubans,  until  the  climax  came  on  the 
night  of  February  15, 1898,  when  the  Ameri- 
can battleship  Maine  was  blown  up  in  Ha- 


92     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

vana  harbor.  The  wrath  of  ourc  ountryrnen 
could  be  restrained  no  longer,  and  war  came. 
It  is  not  our  province  to  give  the  history  of 
that  struggle,  but  we  have  aimed  to  pave  the 
way  for  an  understanding  of  the  part  taken 
therein  by  Theodore  Roosevelt.  Truth,  how- 
ever, compels  us  to  say  two  things  in  this 
place.  First,  in  the  prosecution  of  the  Ten 
Years  War,  as  it  is  called,  the  Cubans  often 
displayed  as  much  ferocity  as  the  Spaniards 
themselves.  Second,  many  of  the  Cubans 
were  unworthy  of  the  independence  which 
we  won  for  them.  Hundreds  of  those  who 
had  been  the  most  blatant  for  war,  stayed 
in  the  United  States  until  it  was  over,  and 
few  of  those  in  Cuba  did  much  more  than 
devour  the  rations  with  which  our  armies 
furnished  them.  None  the  less,  we  may  re- 
peat, no  more  righteous,  unselfish  war  was 
ever  waged  by  any  nation. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

LANDING  IN  CUBA. 

ON  the  i7th  of  December,  1895,  the 
American  nation  was  electrified  by  a  special 
message  of  President  Cleveland  to  Congress, 
recommending  the  creation  of  a  commission 
to  determine  and  report  upon  "the  true 
divisional  line  between  Venezuela  and  British 
Guiana,"  adding  that  when  such  report  should 
be  made,  it  would,  in  his  judgment,  be  the 
duty  of  the  United  States  "  to  resist  by  every 
means  in  its  power,  as  a  wilful  aggression 
upon  its  rights  and  interests,  the  appro- 
priation by  Great  Britain  of  any  lands,  or 
the  exercise  of  governmental  jurisdiction 
over  any  territory  which,  after  investigation, 
we  have  determined  of  right  belongs  to  Ven- 
ezuela." 

This  bold  avowal  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
so  dear  to  all  Americans,  was  ardently  sup- 
ported by  both  branches  of  Congress  and 
by  the  whole  country.  The  incidents  are 
so  recent  that  we  all  remember  what  followed. 
The  world  calamity  of  the  two  greatest  Eng- 
lish-speaking nations  going  to  war,  over  the 
miserable  country  known  as  Venezuela 
93 


94     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

(though  of  course  it  was  the  principle  that 
was  at  stake),  sent  a  shudder  throughout  the 
civilized  world.  Venezuela  has  since  repaid 
our  intercession  by  an  ingratitude  that  more 
than  once  deserved  stern  punishment. 

The  point  that  we  are  making  is  that  the 
greatest  piece  of  good  fortune  that  ever  be- 
fell the  United  States  was  the  restraint  of 
England,  by  which  war  with  us  was  averted. 
A  generation  had  passed  since  the  great 
struggle  for  the  Union,  and  we  were  so  un- 
prepared for  hostilities,  that  for  months  we 
should  have  been  at  the  mercy  of  the  in- 
vincible fleet  of  Great  Britain.  She  could 
have  bombarded  or  laid  under  contribution 
every  port  from  Maine  to  Mexico.  "  Had 
she  called  our  bluff,"  said  one  of  the  greatest 
soldiers  in  our  service,  to  the  writer,  "  we 
should  have  been  taught  a  lesson  never  to 
be  forgotten  to  the  end  of  time.  We  were 
utterly  unprepared  for  war,  while  England 
was,  as  she  alwavs  is,  on  edge.  I  am  ready 
at  any  time  to  give  my  life  for  my  country, 
but  I  don't  wish  to  see  her  plunge  headlong 
to  destruction." 

For  months  before  the  declaration  of  war 
between  Spain  and  the  United  States,  every 
intelligent  person  saw  that  it  was  as  certain 
to  come  as  the  sun  is  to  rise  each  morning. 
Spain,  corrupt,  decayed  and  doddering,  had 
still  a  formidable  army  and  navy.  Her  sol- 


LANDING  IN  CUBA.  95 

diers  would  fight  well,  and  the  probability 
was  that  she  would  strike  hard  blows  before 
we  brought  her  to  her  knees,  as  was  in- 
evitable, sooner  or  later.  That  she  must 
succumb  was  as  sure  as  that  a  pigmy  must 
collapse  before  a  Hercules. 

All  the  same,  we  were  in  a  state  of  un- 
preparedness.  There  were  many  weak  joints 
in  our  armor  that  needed  mending,  and  the 
formation  of  a  powerful  armed  force,  with  all 
necessary  supplies,  accoutrements  and  muni- 
tions the  transportation  of  troops  to  Cuba, 
and  the  moulding  of  army  and  navy  into  a 
compact  effective  machine,  was  a  task  of 
titanic  proportions.  Nothing  but  judgment, 
skill,  knowledge,  foresight  and  prodigious  in- 
dustry could  accomplish  the  feat,  and  even 
all  these  factors  might  fall  a  long  way  short 
of  complete  success. 

When  McKinley  became  President,"  he 
asked  Theodore  Roosevelt  to  be  his  Assist- 
ant-Secretary in  the  Navy  Department.  He 
obeyed  and  threw  his  irrepressible  energy 
into  the  labor  thus  taken  upon  himself.  He 
knew  that  war  was  near  at  hand,  and  did  all 
that  could  be  done  to  make  his  country 
ready.  No  clerk  in  Washington  worked 
harder  or  more  hours  than  he.  As  president 
of  the  Strategic  Board,  he  seemed  scarcely 
ever  to  sleep.  Repairs  on  ships  were  pushed 
night  and  day  ;  he  dashed  to  the  different 


96     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

Naval  Reserves  throughout  the  country,  in- 
spected them  quickly  and  thoroughly,  urged 
the  Personnel  Bill,  and  made  the  whole 
Navy  Department  throb  and  thrill  with  his 
tireless  activity.  When  nature  clamored  for 
rest,  he  strode  for  a  dozen  miles  through  the 
country,  regardless  of  wind,  snow  or  storm, 
or  leaped  into  the  saddle  and  galloped  at 
headlong  speed  over  leagues  of  hill  and 
valley.  Then,  refreshed  like  a  giant  with 
new  wine,  he  was  at  his  desk  again,  toiling 
harder  than  ever.  In  short,  to  him,  more 
than  to  any  other  one  person  belonged  the 
preparation  of  our  country  for  the  fight  when 
it  did  come.  It  was  due  to  him  that  Com- 
modore George  Dewey  was  retained  in 
command  in  the  Asian  waters.  When  some 
of  the  timid  ones  remonstrated,  calling 
Dewey  a  "  dude,"  because  he  was  faultless 
in  his  attire,  Roosevelt  replied  : 

"I  don't  care  how  he  dresses:  he  will 
fight  and  that's  what  we  want." 

Moreover,  the  history  of  all  our  wars  has 
proved  over  and  over  again,  that  many  of 
the  men  who  were  sneered  at  as  dandies 
and  fops  were  made  of  the  best  stuff,  and 
were  heroes  to  the  core.  It  was  Roosevelt 
who  sent  the  famous  order  to  Dewey  at 
Hong  Kong  to  steam  with  all  haste  to  Manila 
and  smash  the  Spanish  fleet  there,  and 
Dewey  did  it. 


LANDING  IN  CUBA.  97 

Having  set  everything  in  order  and  done 
all  that  was  possible,  the  next  question  with 
Roosevelt  was  what  he  himself  should  do. 
He  had  proved  invaluable  in  the  Navy 
Department,  and  the  general  wish  of  the 
country  at  large,  in  addition  to  that  of  his 
own  superiors,  was  that  he  would  stay  there, 
at  least  until  the  war  closed.  But  he  had 
no  such  thought.  Well  founded  rumors 
were  heard  that  he  was  planning  to  enter 
the  military  service.  His  friends  and  the 
leading  journals  remonstrated.  One  of  the 
most  prominent  papers  devoted  a  long 
editorial  to  proving  that  as  a  patriot  his  duty 
was  to  remain  in  Washington.  He  could 
serve  his  country  there  better  than  in  the 
field.  He  would  surely  listen  to  reason  and 
give  up  any  such  wild  ideas,  if  they  had  really 
entered  his  head. 

"  It's  no  use,  gentlemen,"  he  said  in  his 
crisp,  snappy  fashion  to  his  friends,  who 
gathered  round  him ;  "  I  thank  you  for  in- 
terest and  counsel,  which  I  know  is  well 
meant,  but  I'm  going  to  get  into  the  fight." 

He  had  scant  knowledge  of  seamanship, 
and  therefore  did  not  think  of  entering  the 
navy.  He  had  had  some  military  experience 
as  captain  in  the  Eighth  Regiment  of  the 
National  Guard  of  New  York.  He  was  a 
superb  horseman,  a  good  shot  and  possessed 
dauntless  personal  courage.  He  knew  where 
7 


98     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

to  get  the  men  after  his  own  heart.  Strange 
as  it  may  seem  at  first  thought,  his  sources 
were  the  two  antipodes  of  society :  the  cow- 
DOVS  and  ranchmen  of  the  West,  and  the 
wealthy  young  aristocrats  of  the  East.  But 
they  were  all  men,  in  the  truest  sense  of  the 
word.  Nine-tenths  of  the  Rough  Riders 
came  from  the  plains  and  mountains,  and 
one-tenth  from  the  homes  of  luxury  and 
wealth,  and  neither  division  was  made  of 
better  stuff  than  the  other.  The  young 
millionaires  despite  their  handicap  of  birth, 
were  trained  athletes,  brave,  patriotic  and 
gentlemen,  through  and  through.  The  call- 
ing of  the  plainsmen  made  them  ideal  horse- 
men, and  experts  with  short  arms.  They 
loved  a  fight  as  dearly  as  their  leader,  and 
would  shrink  from  no  danger  more  than 
would  the  blue  bloods  who  bunked  with 
them. 

When  the  regiment  of  Rough  Riders  was 
organized,  Roosevelt  was  offered  the  colo- 
nelcy. He  showed  his  sense  by  declining 
and  asking  that  Dr.  Leonard  Wood,  who  had 
had  considerable  experience  in  campaigning 
in  the  Southwest,  should  be  made  colonel, 
while  he  would  become  lieutenant-colonel. 
This  was  the  situation  from  May  6  to  July  8, 
when  Roosevelt  became  colonel  and  for 
about  a  month,  beginning  in  August,  was 
Second  Brigade  Commander  of  the  Cavalry 


LANDING  IN  CUBA.  99 

Division.  He  joined  the  regiment  at  San 
Antonio,  and  from  the  first  devoted  every 
spare  moment  to  familiarizing  himself  with 
his  duties.  It  need  not  be  said  that  he 
learned  fast.  Beside  his  natural  aptitude, 
his  heart  was  in  his  work. 

One  of  the  best  officers  in  the  service, 
himself  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  said  to  the 
writer : 

"The  Rough  Riders  were  not  original 
with  our  war  with  Spain.  They  played  a 
big  part  in  the  Revolution.  But  for  them, 
King's  Mountain  would  have  been  a  bad 
defeat  for  our  forefathers,  instead  of  the 
brilliant  victory  it  was.  They  figured  in  the 
War  of  1812,  though  we  did  not  hear  much 
of  them  from  '61  to  '65.  One  of  the  pecul- 
iarities of  the  organization  is  that  it  is  the 
only  one  in  military  service  where  the 
best  course  is  not  to  discipline  too  strictly. 
In  all  other  branches  we  cannot  draw  the 
reins  too  tight.  The  Rough  Riders  are  ready 
to  obey  orders  at  the  dropping  of  a  handker- 
chief ;  they  are  brave  through  and  through  ; 
they  will  respect  their  officers,  if  they  deserve 
respect,  but  a  certain  liberty  must  be  allowed 
them.  The  soldier  who  can  be  counted 
upon  never  to  shirk  duty,  no  matter  what 
the  circumstances,  is  entitled  to  privileges, 
which  it  would  never  do  to  concede  to 
volunteers  or  regulars." 


100    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  military 
situation  was  peculiar,  at  the  date  of  the 
organization  of  the  Rough  Riders.  The 
only  way  by  which  an  effective  blow  could 
be  struck  for  the  liberation  of  Cuba  was 
through  landing  a  force  on  the  island  power- 
ful enough  to  drive  out  the  Spaniards. 
Since  the  distance  to  Cuba  is  so  slight,  this 
would  seem  to  be  an  easy  task,  but  an  im- 
portant factor  had  to  be  taken  into  account. 
The  fleet  of  the  enemy  in  the  Philippines 
had  been  destroyed,  but  there  was  a  larger 
and  more  formidable  one  that  had  sailed 
from  Spain  under  the  command  of  Admiral 
Cervera.  No  one  knew  what  it  would  be 
able  to  accomplish,  nor  where  it  would 
begin  its  work  of  destruction.  It  was  re- 
ported at  different  ports  and  on  high  seas 
and  was  believed  to  be  capable  of  inflicting 
fearful  damage  unless  it  was  met  and  defeated 
by  our  battleships.  These  were  on  the 
alert,  but  days  and  weeks  passed  during 
which  the  country  was  anxious  and  alarmed. 
Hurried  defences  were  thrown  up  below 
Washington  and  to  guard  the  approaches  to 
the  different  seaports  along  the  Atlantic 
coast.  The  general  fear  was  shown  by  the 
fact  that  thousands  who  had  been  in  the 
practice  of  spending  their  summers  at  the 
ocean  resorts,  now  took  their  families  to  the 
mountains  where  they  knew  they  were  safe 


LANDING  IN  CUBA.  101 

from  the  big  guns  of  the  enemy.  One  ener- 
getic citizen  of  Brooklyn  mounted  a  cannon 
in  his  front  yard,  with  a  view  of  making 
suitable  reply  to  the  Spanish  bombardment 
when  it  should  open. 

We  all  know  that  Cervera's  proud  squad- 
ron met  its  doom  off  Santiago  on  the  3d  of 
July,  1898.  As  a  consequence,  our  land 
forces  were  left  free  to  push  the  conquest 
of  Cuba.  Previous  to  this  date,  a  consider- 
able force  had  been  landed  on  the  island, 
where  the  military  operations  were  under 
charge  of  General  William  R.  Shafter.  On 
June  10,  six  hundred  marines  went  ashore 
from  the  transport  Panther,  near  the  entrance 
to  Guantanamo  harbor.  They  were  attacked 
the  next  day  and  two  officers  and  two  men 
killed,  but  the  enemy  were  repulsed.  Ten 
days  later  a  large  body  of  troops  began  land- 
ing at  Baiquiri,  seventeen  miles  east  of 
Santiago,  where  the  Spanish  fleet  was  bot- 
tled up.  Then  the  advance  against  the 
city  was  begun.  This  military  movement 
brought  the  Rough  Riders  upon  the  stage  of 
action. 

In  his  testimony,  Colonel  Roosevelt  said 
that  before  leaving  San  Antonio,  tents  and 
blankets  were  provided  for  nearly  all  the 
men,  though  quite  a  number  were  unable 
to  get  shoes.  The  rough  riders  were 
armed  with  Krag-Jorgensen  carbines  and  six- 


102     FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

shooters  of  forty-five  calibre,  but  had  no 
sabres.  They  had  been  promised  machetes — 
the  effective  Cuban  weapon — but  the  wea- 
pons did  not  arrive  in  time.  On  the  last  of 
May,  the  regiment  left  San  Antonio  and 
were  flung  into  circumstances  of  almost 
inextricable  confusion.  The  trains  were 
congested  and  there  was  no  intelligent 
supervision  over  anything.  It  took  four 
days  to  reach  Tampa,  where,  if  possible,  the 
confusion  was  still  worse.  Many  of  the 
troops  were  disembarked  miles  out  of  town, 
or  left  to  look  out  for  themselves.  Roose- 
velt brought  his  six  troops  into  Tampa, 
where  he  quickly  saw  that  if  anything  was 
done,  it  would  have  to  be  done  by  himself. 
He  was  not  the  one  to  hesitate,  and  took 
hold  with  such  energy  that  in  a  day  or  two 
something  like  order  was  established  with 
his  command.  Food  for  the  troopers  was 
obtained  by  his  buying  it.  Fortunately,  he 
possessed  the  means,  and,  still  more  fortunate, 
his  greatest  pleasure  has  always  been  to  help 
others.  When  asked  afterward  whether 
he  was  repaid  for  the  considerable  amount 
thus  expended,  he  replied  :  "  Heavens  !  Of 
course  not  :  that  was  a  personal  matter." 

One  of  the  sweetest  attributes  of  charity 
is  the  modesty  that  accompanies  it.  Roose- 
velt never  referred  to  what  he  did  for  his 
men  in  this  respect,  and  is  always  displeased 


LANDING  IN  CUBA.  103 

when  anything  is  said  of  it  in  his  hearing, 
but  it  is  only  the  commonest  justice  to  say 
that  his  kindly  help  went  far  beyond  what 
is  generally  supposed.  The  Rough  Riders 
have  told  how  ready  he  was  to  furnish  them 
money  when  they  had  none  ;  how,  if  there 
was  a  human  possibility  of  getting  food,  he 
got  it  for  them  ;  how  he  saw  that  they  were 
provided  with  writing  materials  and  the  little 
conveniences,  which  in  such  circumstances, 
become  necessities  ;  how  he  never  tasted 
a  mouthful  that  was  a  particle  better  than 
that  eaten  by  his  men  ;  how  he  lost  hours 
of  sleep  in  seeing  that  they  had  necessary 
rest  ;  how  no  mother  could  have  been  more 
thoughtful  in  caring  for  a  child  than  he  was 
in  caring  for  them. 

The  young  men  some  of  whom  were  ac- 
customed to  the  luxuries  of  wealth,  never 
murmured  at  the  hardships.  When  notified 
that  if  they  did  not  get  aboard  the  train  at  a 
certain  hour,  they  would  be  left,  they  found 
no  train  to  take  them  away,  but  there  was  a 
lot  of  empty  coal  cars,  into  which  they 
scrambled  and  thus  got  to  the  shore  in  time. 
But  there  again  everything  was  topsy-turvy. 
Ten  thousand  men  were  swarming  on  the 
quay,  and  the  transports  were  waiting,  but 
no  one  could  tell  upon  which  the  troops  were 
to  embark.  Roosevelt  made  a  dash  for 
General  Shatter  and  he  advised  them  to 


104:    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

hunt  up  the  Quartermaster,  Colonel  Hum- 
phrey.  He  was  not  in  his  place,  and  had 
not  been  for  hours.  Colonel  Wood  and 
Colonel  Roosevelt  took  different  directions 
and  finally  ran  him  down.  He  directed 
them  to  a  transport  that  was  just  coming  in 
at  the  dock.  Roosevelt  ran  to  it  and  found 
it  had  been  allotted  to  the  Second  Infantry 
and  the  Seventy-First,  New  York.  He 
hurriedly  gathered  his  men,  placed  a  guard 
at  the  gang  plank,  and  held  it  against  all 
comers  until  the  Rough  Riders  were  aboard. 
The  other  troops,  as  a  consequence  had  to 
spend  two  nights  in  the  cars.  It  was  rough 
on  them,  but  those  who  had  outwitted  the 
fellows  did  not  feel  any  compunctions  of 
conscience. 

The  regiments  took  nearly  two  weeks' 
rations  with  them.  The  food  would  have 
been  good  except  for  the  canned  fresh  beef, 
which  was  so  vile  and  nauseating  that  the 
hardiest  digestion  could  not  stand  it.  Who- 
ever swallowed  a  few  mouthfuls  was  sickened, 
and  there  was  no  salt  or  onions  with  which  to 
smother  its  repulsiveness.  Ice  was  absent, 
and  no  horses  were  taken.  Another  trans- 
port carried  the  animals  of  the  field  officers. 
The  sleeping  accommodations  were  so  poor 
that  the  luckiest  ones  were  those  who  slept 
on  deck. 

Having  embarked,  the  transport  lay  off 


LANDING  IN  CUBA.  105 

Port  Tampa  for  five  days  before  sailing  for 
Cuba,  which  was  not  reached  until  the  end 
of  a  week,  when  two  more  days  passed  be- 
fore they  disembarked.  Even  then  they 
would  have  been  kept  aboard  indefinitely, 
had  not  a  friend  of  Roosevelt,  in  a  converted 
yacht,  come  alongside  and  loaned  him  a 
Cuban  pilot.  He  guided  the  transport  a 
mile  and  a  half  nearer  land  than  any  other 
boat  lay,  and  a  dynamite  gun  and  two  Colt's 
automatic  guns  were  carried  ashore,  but 
there  were  not  enough  boats  to  take  the 
baggage  and  food.  By  this  time  hardly 
three  days'  rations  remained.  Roosevelt 
says  that  his  baggage  consisted  of  a  light 
mackintosh  and  a  toothbrush.  One  of  his 
horses  was  drowned,  but  he  got  another. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    FIGHT   AT   SIBONEY. 

So  at  last  the  Rough  Riders  were  on 
Cuban  soil,  with  the  certainty  of  righting  be- 
fore them.  They  started  at  once  on  a  hard 
march.  Clothed  in  thick  winter  uniforms, 
the  men  suffered  much  from  the  heat  of  the 
jungles,  and  Roosevelt  counted  himself  for- 
tunate that  he  had  a  mount,  which  made  it 
easy  for  him.  None  the  less,  all  were  in 
high  spirits,  for  they  were  in  advance  of  the 
other  troops.  That  evening  they  reached 
Siboney,  and  had  hardly  gone  into  camp, 
when  a  furious  rainstorm  drenched  them, 
without,  however,  dampening  the  spirits  of 
any  of  the  men.  Colonel  Wood  came  up 
about  midnight  with  orders  that  the  march 
should  be  taken  up  at  daybreak.  They 
were  to  follow  a  hill  trail  to  the  left,  while 
other  troops  took  the  valley  trail  to  the 
right.  At  the  junction  of  these  two  paths, 
a  fight  with  the  Spaniards  was  expected. 

The  next  day's  march  was  of  the  most 
trying  nature.  The  sun  shone  with  tropic 
fervor,  and  the  baggage  became  so  exhaust- 
106 


THE  FIGHT  AT  SIBONEY.  IQ? 

ing  that  over  a  hundred  men  dropped 
down  utterly  overcome.  Most  of  them  flung 
away  their  blankets  and  packs,  the  burden 
of  which  became  unbearable.  The  jungle 
was  too  dense  to  permit  flankers  to  be 
thrown  out,  and  the  men  marched  in  single 
file,  the  advance  guard  being  under  charge  of 
Captain  Capron. 

The  forenoon  was  not  half  gone,  when  a 
halt  was  ordered,  for  word  had  come  back 
from  the  advance  that  the  Spanish  outposts 
had  been  discovered.  The  troops  were  or- 
dered to  cease  talking  and  to  see  that  their 
magazines  were  loaded.  Colonel  Roosevelt 
was  directed  to  deploy  with  two  troops  to 
the  right.  Major  Brody  deployed  to  the  left, 
under  a  brisk  fire. 

In  this  first  encounter  with  the  enemy,  the 
latter  possessed  a  great  advantage  in  their 
smokeless  powder.  Their  guns  were  well 
aimed,  but  it  was  almost  impossible  to  tell 
whence  the  shots  came.  Roosevelt  says 
he  felt  that  in  such  circumstances  the  one 
rule  to  follow  is  to  push  ahead  and  make 
sure  you  are  going  toward  the  guns. 
Finally,  the  hats  of  the  Spaniards  were  de- 
tected on  an  elevation  across  the  ravine,  and 
he  ordered  his  men  to  open  upon  them 
with  volleys.  They  did  so  with  such  effect 
that  the  Spaniards  retreated  to  their  re- 
serves, but  the  Americans  soon  had  them  all 


108   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

on  the  run.  Just  then  a  number  of  troops 
were  discovered  on  the  right  flank  across 
the  ravine,  and  were  recognized  as  United 
States  regulars.  A  sergeant  was  sent  to 
climb  a  tree  and  wave  a  guidon  to  prevent 
their  firing  on  the  volunteers.  It  was  said, 
though  it  is  not  known  whether  such  was 
the  fact,  that  a  number  of  shots  had  been 
fired  through  mistake  at  the  Rough  Riders, 
though,  if  so,  no  damage  was  done. 

Upon  the  establishment  of  the  right  wing, 
Roosevelt  moved  to  the  centre  of  the  regi- 
ment. About  this  time,  Major  Brody  was 
wounded  and  taken  to  the  rear.  Roosevelt 
was  sent  to  the  left  wing,  where  With  his 
three  troops,  he  was  out  of  touch  for  a  time 
with  the  right  wing. 

The  Tenth  Cavalry  (colored)  had  dashed 
forward  when  the  firing  began,  and  they 
fought  with  the  skill  and  cool  courage 
learned  in  many  a  hot  campaign  against  the 
Indians  on  the  plains.  They  cared  nothing 
for  the  suffocating  climate  that  was  so  try- 
ing  to  the  Anglo-Saxon.  But  for  their  help, 
it  would  have  gone  hard  with  the  Rough 
Riders. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Siboney  fight, 
Captain  Capron  was  mortally  wounded  and 
Hamilton  Fish  instantly  killed.  It  is  said 
that  in  his  last  moments  Fish  shot  two 
Spaniards  with  his  revolver.  Of  Capron  and 


THE  FIGHT  AT  SIBONEY.  1Q9 

Fish,  Roosevelt  says  they  were  two  as  gallant 
men  as  ever  wore  a  uniform.  It  was  exas- 
perating to  the  Americans  that  while  the 
smoke  of  their  own  guns  invariably  betrayed 
their  position,  the  smokeless  powder  effect- 
ually hid  the  Mauser  rifles  of  the  enemy. 
Some  of  the  cowboys  gave  vigorous  expres- 
sick  to  their  anger. 

"  Don't  curse,"  called  out  Colonel  Wood, 
but  "  fight  !  " 

The  men  laughed  and  obeyed.  The  final 
achievement  of  the  Rough  Riders  was  a 
headlong  charge  up  the  hill  which  scattered 
the  Spaniards  in  a  panic.  Roosevelt  led 
this  charge  and  kept  in  advance  all  the  way. 
When  he  was  complimented  on  his  bravery 
by  a  number  of  clergymen,  he  replied  : 

"  I  had  to  run  like  the  devil  or  my  men 
would  have  run  over  me." 

In  the  ardor  of  the  moment,  he  did  more 
yelling  than  he  ever  did  before  in  a  whole 
day.  Snatching  up  a  rifle  as  he  ran  at  head- 
long speed,  he  fired  shot  after  shot  at  the 
blockhouse  at  the  top  of  the  hill,  which  was 
aflame  with  the  belching  Mausers,  and  was 
the  destination  of  the  charging  Rough 
Riders. 

Here  was  a  species  of  fighting  which  the 
Spaniards  had  never  seen  before.  Invariably 
when  they  fired  upon  the  Cubans,  the  latter 
fell  back ;  but  no  matter  how  galling  the 


HO   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

volleys  sent  into  the  American  ranks,  they 
came  on  all  the  faster.  The  enemy  had  no 
wish  to  meet  hand-to-hand  such  fighters, 
and  scrambled  pell-mell  out  of  the  block- 
houses, and  made  as  good  speed  beyond  as 
did  the  yelling  Rough  Riders  coming  up 
the  hill.  The  enemy  left  seventeen  dead 
bodies  behind  them. 

The  Tenth  and  the  First  Cavalry  com- 
pleted the  rout  on  the  right  and  in  the  front. 
When  the  panting  fugitives  reached  the 
reserves,  they  explained  their  defeat  by  de- 
claring they  had  been  fighting  the  whole 
American  army.  Our  troops  in  this  battle 
numbered  about  1,500,  and  that  of  the 
enemy  fully  double,  if  not  more.  Sergeant 
Ousler,  of  the  Regulars,  who  helped  carry 
Hamilton  Fish  to  the  rear,  gives  the  following 
graphic  account  of  what  he  saw  in  the  fight : 

"  That  story  about  Assistant  Surgeon 
Church,  the  young  Washington  medico  of 
the  Rough  Riders,  who  dressed  a  fallen 
man's  wound  away  out  ahead  of  the  line 
amid  a  hail  of  Mauser  bullets,  has  been 
published,  I  see,  but  the  coolness  of  that 
young  fellow  wasn't  even  half  described. 
While  he  was  making  an  examination  of  his 
wounded  comrade,  paying  no  attention  to 
the  whistle  of  the  bullets,  a  young  private  of 
the  Rough  Riders,  who  had  been  a  college 
mate  of  Church  at  Princeton,  yelled  over 


THE  FIGHT  AT  SIBONEY.  HJ 

to  him  from  a  distance  of  about  twenty 
feet — he  was  in  with  half  a  dozen  fellows 
doing  sharpshooters'  work  from  behind  a 
cluster  of  bushes — to  ask  how  badly  the 
patient  was  hurt.  The  young  surgeon  looked 
over  his  shoulder  in  the  direction  whence 
the  private's  voice  proceeded,  and  he  saw 
his  former  chum  grinning  in  the  bushes. 

" '  Why,  you  whelp  ! '  said  Church,  with  a 
comical  grin  on  his  face,  'how  dare  you  be 
around  here  and  not  be  killed  ! ' 

"Then  he  went  on  fixing  the  wounded 
man,  and  he  remained  right  there  with  him 
until  the  arrival  of  the  litter  that  he  had  sent 
to  the  rear  for. 

"  In  my  cavalry  outfit  there  was  a  fellow 
with  whom  I  soldiered  out  West  four  or 
five  years  ago.  He  was  a  crack  baseball 
pitcher,  and  he  would  rather  play  ball  than 
eat  any  time.  He  got  a  Mauser  ball  plumb 
through  the  biceps  of  his  right  arm  early  in 
the  engagement.  I  never  saw  a  man  so  mad 
over  a  thing  in  my  life.  The  wound  pained 
him  a  good  deal,  but  it  wasn't  the  pain  that 
hurt  him  so  much.  I  met  him  at  the  rear 
after  the  scrap  was  over.  He  had  tried  to 
go  on  shooting  with  his  carbine,  but  he 
couldn't  make  it  go  with  his  left  hand  and 
arm  alone,  and  so  he  had  to  drop  back.  He 
was  alternately  rubbing  his  arm  and  scratch- 
ing his  head  when  I  came  across  him. 


112   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

"  '  Hurt  much?'  I  asked  him. 

"  '  Hurt  notning,'  said  he,  scowling  like  a 
savage  ;  '  but  did  you  ever  hear  of  such  luck 
as  this,  to  get  plugged  right  in  my  pitching 
arm  ?  Why  didn't  they  get  me  in  the  neck 
or  somewhere  else,  anyhow  ?  I'll  never  be 
able  to  pitch  another  game,  for  these  muscles 
are  going  to  contract  when  the  hole  heals 
up,'  and  he  \vent  on  complaining  because 
the  Spaniards  hadn't  hit  him  '  in  the  neck  or 
somewhere  else.' 

"One  of  the  fellows  in  the  Rough  Riders, 
an  Oklahoma  boy,  got  a  ball  clean  through 
his  campaign  hat,  which  was  whirled  off  his 
head  and  fell  about  five  feet  away  from  him. 
He  picked  up  the  hat,  examined  it  carefully, 
and  said : 

" '  I'll  have  to  patch  that  up  with  sticking 
plaster,  or  I'll  get  my  hair  sunburnt.'  The 
fun  of  it  was,  that  his  hair  was  about  the 
reddest  I  ever  saw. 

"  Roosevelt  was  some  place  ahead  of  the 
line  during  the  whole  scrap,  moving  up  and 
down  with  a  word  here  and  there  to  the 
company  and  troop  commanders.  One  of 
the  Rough  Riders  from  New  York  rubber- 
necked after  Roosevelt  a  good  deal,  and 
watched  him  narrowly,  and  then  he  turned 
to  one  of  the  men  alongside  of  him  and 
said: 

"  'And  yet,  by  jing,  a  couple  o'  years  ago 


THE  FIGHT  AT  SIBONEY.  H$ 

we  people  in  New  York  didn't  think  Teddy 
knew  enough  to  review  a  parade  of  cops  ! ' 

"  There  wasn't  a  single  case  of  the  yel- 
lows during  the  entire  fracas.  There  wasn't 
a  man  that  tried  to  edge  behind  a  fellow  in 
front  of  him ;  and  it's  a  good  thing  the  skir- 
mish was  executed  in  extended  order  by 
direct  command,  for  column  formation 
wouldn't  have  done  at  all.  The  men  would 
have  made  it  extended  order  anyhow.  They 
all  wanted  to  be  in  front,  the  farther  in  front 
the  better.  We  had  to  do  a  good  deal  of 
firing  for  general  results,  on  account  of  the 
screen  from  the  shelter  of  which  the  Span- 
iards fought ;  but  there  were  some  very 
brave  and  chesty  ones  on  the  other  side, 
who  stood  right  out  in  the  open  and  blazed 
away  at  men  in  our  line  that  they  picked  out 
deliberately.  These  nervy  Spaniards  got 
plenty  of  credit  from  our  men  for  their 
gameness,  too.  One  of  them,  a  young, 
small-looking  fellow,  stood  on  a  little  level 
plateau,  within  dead  easy  range,  letting  us 
have  it  as  fast  as  he  could  load  for  fully  five 
minutes  before  he  went  down.  If  he  wasn't 
simply  crazy  with  the  excitement  he  surely 
was  about  as  game  as  they  make  'em. 

"  He  was  noticed  by  about  a  dozen  men 
near  me,  and  one  of  them  said  : 

"  '  That  little  fellow's  too  good,  and  I  guess 
I'll  just  let  him  have  one  or  two.' 


H4:   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

"  'Ah,  let  him  alone,'  said  another  fellow; 
'there's  so  few  like  him  in  that  bunch  on  the 
other  side,  he  ought  to  have  a  show.' 

"The  nervy  little  Spaniard's  work  became 
altogether  too  accurate  and  vicious,  how- 
ever, and  he  got  a  volley  from  about  a 
dozen  of  our  men,  and  he  went  down  in  a 
heap,  and  rolled  down  the  hillside  from  his 
little  rock-table  like  a  log. 

"While  there  wasn't  a  single  case  of  the 
yellows  on  our  side,  it  would  be  idle  to  say 
that  none  of  us  was  nervous.  I  was  a  heap 
nervous,  for  one,  and  I've  been  in  the  outfit 
a  long  while  ;  and  I  heard  a  lot  of  the 
roughies  say,  after  the  scrap  was  over,  that 
they  felt  the  same.  One  of  them,  an  Illi- 
nois fellow  that  had  simply  to  be  pushed 
back  two  or  three  times,  he  was  so  eager  to 
break  out  of  the  line  all  by  himself  and  go  'em 
single-handed,  was  talking  with  one  of  his 
friends  after  the  firing  had  ceased. 

"  '  I  never  felt  so  wabbly  in  my  life,'  he 
said,  '  and  it  was  nothing  but  pure  hysterics 
that  kept  me  going.  I  had  to  keep  saying 
to  myself  all  the  time,  "  steady,  there,  old 
fellow,  and  see  to  it  that  you  don't  welch," 
and  then  I  made  a  jump  forward  and  got 
out  of  the  line.' 

"  I  have  often  read  about  men  in  action 
dodging  bullets  out  of  nervousness,  but  I 
never  believed  those  stories  until  this  fight. 


THE  FIGHT  AT  SIBONEY.  H5 

Then  I  found  out  it  was  true.  Men  do 
dodge  bullets.  I  caught  myself  doing  it 
half  a  dozen  times,  and  nearly  all  the  other 
fellows  did  it.  They  didn't  dodge  all  the 
time,  but  only  when  the  Spaniards  were  en- 
gaging in  volley-firing.  When  the  sound  of 
the  volley  reached  them,  although  the  vol- 
ley's bullets  had  long  passed,  they  involun- 
tarily gave  little  ducks  of  the  head,  like  a 
man  does  in  a  boxing-match.  They  didn't 
know  they  were  doing  it.  I  called  the 
attention  of  one  of  my  comrades,  who  fought 
alongside  of  me,  to  his  imbecile  action,  and 
he  turning  to  me  said  : 

"  '  Why,  I've  been  watching  you  do  the 
same  thing  for  the  last  fifteen  minutes,'— 
and  he  was  right. 

11  There's  a  mean  kind  of  squat  cactus 
growing  around  the  woods  down  here,  and 
the  digs  of  the  cactus-point  fooled  a  lot  of 
the  men  into  believing  they  had  been  pinked 
in  the  legs.  I  saw  one  of  the  regulars,  a 
corporal,  sit  down  suddenly  and  rub  his  left 
leg  down  near  his  foot. 

"  '  Been  nipped  ? '  asked  one. 

"  '  Yes,  in  the  ankle,'  was  the  reply. 

"  Then  he  pulled  up  his  trouser  leg,  ow- 
ered  his  sock,  and  saw  nothing  but  a  little 
abrasion  of  the  skin,  from  which  the  blood 
was  trickling.  He  had  struck  his  ankle 
against  a  cactus-point,  He  got  up  sud- 


116    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

denly,  looked  at  the  cactus  for  a  second,  and 
then  trampled  it  into  the  ground. 

"  '  I  won't  get  fooled  that  way  again/  he 
said.  He  got  a  ball  in  his  left  shoulder 
later  on. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SAN   JUAN    HILL. 

GENERAL  S.  B.  M.  YOUNG,  now  retired 
Lieutenant-General,  one  of  the  finest  officers 
in  the  service,  and  commanding  a  brigade  of 
General  Wheeler's  corps,  became  so  seri- 
ously ill,  that  he  was  obliged  to  withdraw. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Colonel  Leonard 
Wood,  and  on  the  8th  of  July,  Roosevelt  be- 
came Colonel  of  the  Rough  Riders.  "  I  was 
very  much  pleased  at  that,"  he  said  ;  "  I 
shouldn't  have  wanted  the  command  until  I 
had  had  a  little  experience,  but  having  been 
through  that  skirmish,  I  felt  I  could  handle 
the  regiment." 

Word  was  received  on  the  3oth  of  June 
that  the  advance  was  to  be  begun  against 
Santiago  the  next  morning.  This  city  is  six 
miles  from  the  sea,  is  inclosed  by  high 
mountains,  and  lies  between  the  first  and 
second  ridges.  On  the  crest  of  a  hill  south- 
east of  Santiago  is  San  Juan  ;  three  miles 
northeast  is  El  Caney.  The  defences  of 
Santiago  were  so  formidable,  that  General 
Shafter  believed  it  best  to  resort  to  regular 
117 


118  FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

siege  operations,  but  yielded  to  the  argu- 
ments for  a  joint  assault  on  Aguadores,  and 
a  military  attack  alone  on  El  Caney  and  San 
Juan  hill.  The  latter  is  east  of  the  elevation 
on  which  the  little  town  of  San  Juan  stands. 

General  Lawton  (afterward  killed  in  the 
Philippines),  moved  north  with  his  troops  to 
attack  El  Caney.  General  Wheeler  (who 
died  in  January,  1906)  was  ill.  The  cavalry 
under  Sumner  led  the  center  of  the  line  up 
the  valley  below  San  Juan.  Duffield  re- 
mained at  the  seashore  to  join  the  fleet  and 
the  Michigan  volunteers  in  the  attack  on 
the  town  of  Aguadores.  The  reserve  con- 
sisted of  the  Rough  Riders,  the  Seventy-first 
New  York  and  Colonel  Wheeler's  Massa- 
chusetts volunteers. 

At  the  earliest  streakings  of  light,  on  the 
morning  of  July  i,  General  Lawton  was  on 
the  El  Caney  road,  General  Duffield  at  the 
railway  near  the  summit,  and  General 
Wheeler,  though  still  suffering  from  illness, 
rode  up  the  valley  in  an  ambulance,  and 
planted  Grimes'  battery  of  four  pieces  within 
half  a  mile  of  the  Santiago  forts.  Major 
Capron  (father  of  Captain  Capron  killed  at 
Siboney),  took  position  with  his  battery 
within  little  more  than  a  mile  of  El  Caney.  At 
six  o'clock  he  fired  the  first  gun  and  opened 
the  battle.  Shot  after  shot  was  discharged 
without  bringing  any  reply.  Believing  the 


SAN  JUAN  HILL.  119 

enemy  were  retreating,  a  thousand  Cubans, 
under  Garcia  and  Castillo,  marched  hur- 
riedly along  the  road  from  El  Poso  to  El 
Caney  to  head  them  off.  They  did  so  after 
a  brisk  fight,  and  the  Spaniards  returned  to 
El  Caney. 

Not  until  Major  Capron  had  fired  twenty 
rounds,  did  he  receive  any  answer.  The 
enemy  so  improved  in  markmanship  that 
during  the  duel,  which  lasted  an  hour,  they 
wounded  a  number  of  Cuban  and  American 
soldiers.  Meanwhile,  Grimes'  battery  was 
hammering  away  from  the  hill  behind  San 
Juan.  It  succeeded  in  silencing  the  enemy's 
battery.  Then  the  Tenth  and  First  Regi- 
ments and  the  Rough  Riders  were  ordered 
to  make  a  detour  and  capture  the  hill.  Al- 
though the  Spaniards  were  not  in  sight,  they 
were  known  to  be  there  in  great  numbers. 

Moving  through  the  ravine,  the  Rough 
Riders  were  met  by  a  withering  fire  from 
the  blockhouse,  while  the  sharpshooters,  in- 
visible because  of  their  smokeless  powder, 
and  green-colored  suits,  kept  up  such  an  un- 
remitting fusillade  that  many  a  brave  soldier 
was  brought  down.  In  this  advance,  Roose- 
velt was  at  the  head  of  his  men,  the  colored 
Tenth  Cavalry  keeping  range  alongside.  The 
fire  quickly  became  so  deadly  that  the  Rough 
Riders  were  compelled  to  dodge  behind 
trees,  to  escape  the  storm  of  bullets.  This 


120    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

screen  had  soon  to  be  left  behind,  and  when 
the  men  reached  the  open  hillside,  they  were 
without  any  protection  whatever.  It  looked 
as  if  the  entire  command  would  be  annihi- 
lated. The  air  was  full  of  whistling  bullets 
and  shrieking  shells,  but  there  was  no  falter- 
ing on  the  part  of  a  single  man.  In  the  midst 
of  the  fearful  tempest,  Roosevelt  shouted  in 
a  voice  that  rose  above  the  din,  "  Forward, 
charge  ! "  He  was  waving  his  sword  above 
his  head,  and  galloping  across  the  open 
space  up  the  hill,  where  it  seemed  that  a 
man  could  not  live  for  a  dozen  seconds. 
Next  to  him  dashed  the  colored  troops,  in- 
spired by  his  intrepid  example. 

Again  the  Spaniards  were  astounded. 
They  had  never  seen  anything  like  it.  They 
came  out  from  their  shelter  in  order  to  take 
more  effective  aim.  The  colored  men,  who 
displayed  wonderful  markmanship,  picked 
them  off  with  amazing  skill  and  rapidity,  but 
when  one  man  went  down,  several  appeared 
to  leap  up  in  his  place.  While  shouting  and 
waving  his  sword,  Roosevelt  felt  his  horse 
lunging  ,and  knew  he  had  been  mortally 
struck.  Down  he  went,  but  his  rider  landed 
on  his  feet,  and  on  foot  continued  running 
up  the  hill,  with  the  colored  men  at  his 
heels,  and  toppling  over  the  Spaniards  like 
so  many  ten  pins.  The  summit  was  reached 
at  last.  Even  then  the  Spaniards  in  the 


SAN  JUAN  HILL.  121 

trenches  could  have  killed  every  man,  but 
they  were  terrified  by  the  resistless  daring 
of  the  Americans,  and  skurried  off  like  a 
frightened  covey,  the  colored  men  dropping 
them  as  they  ran. 

Thus  the  blockhouse  was  captured  and 
San  Juan  won,  but  the  cost  was  dear.  One- 
half  the  Rough  Riders  had  been  killed  or 
wounded,  and  the  place  was  still  dangerous 
because  of  the  sharpshooters.  It  is  appro- 
priate in  this  place  to  quote  the  words  of 
Colonel  Roosevelt,  in  describing  what  was 
certainly  one  of  the  most  gallant  achieve- 
ments of  the  whole  war : 

"  My  regiment  went  first,  the  Second  Brig- 
ade following  the  First  Brigade  along  the 
road  to  join  on  General  Lawton's  left.  That 
was  the  order  we  received.  General  Lawton 
was  attacking  El  Caney.  We  marched  out 
behind  the  First  Brigade  until  we  came  to 
the  San  Juan  River,  which  we  forded,  and 
then  turned  to  the  right.  I  got  my  regiment 
across  just  as  the  captive  balloon  was  coming 
along  down  to  the  ford.  There  was  a  good 
deal  of  firing  going  on,  and  I  knew  when 
that  balloon  got  down  there  would  be  hot 
work  at  the  ford,  so  I  hurried  my  men  along 
as  quickly  as  I  could,  and  my  regiment 
marched  at  the  head  of  the  Second  Brigade 
to  the  right  alongside  San  Juan  River,  with 
the  First  Cavalry  Brigade  to  our  left,  between 


122   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

us  and  the  blockhouses  and  intrenchments 
on  the  hills,  and  the  firing  got  heavier  and 
heavier,  and  we  finally  received  word  to 
halt  and  await  orders. 

"  There  was  a  kind  of  sunken  lane  going 
up  from  the  river  where  we  halted,  and  I 
made  the  men  all  lie  down  and  get  under 
cover  as  much  as  they  could,  and  we  lay 
there  for,  I  should  judge,  certainly  an  hour. 
Finally  we  got  the  welcome  order  to  advance. 
I  received  instructions  to  move  forward  and 
support  the  regular  cavalry  in  the  assault  on 
the  hills  in  front,  and  we  moved  forward,  and 
then  we  took  Kettle  Hill,  as  we  called  it.  I 
never  heard  the  term  San  Juan  Hill  until 
two  or  three  days  later.  After  we  went  up 
Kettle  Hill,  Colonel  Hamilton  and  Colonel 
Carroll  were  both  shot,  and  that  left  me  in 
command  on  the  hill  until  General  Sumner 
got  there.  I  got  my  men  together  and  got 
them  volley  firing  across  at  the  San  Juan 
blockhouse  on  the  hill  which  the  infantry  of 
Kent  and  Hawkins  were  attacking.  We 
kept  up  firing  for  some  time,  and  I  recollect 
we  heard  Parker's  Catlings  begin  shooting 
on  the  left  and  our  men  cheered  them,  and 
we  kept  up  our  fire  until  the  infantry  got  so 
near  the  top  of  the  hill  that  I  was  afraid  of 
hitting  them,  and  in  another  minute  we  saw 
the  infantry  swarm  over  the  intrenchments 
and  the  Spaniards  run  out;  and  then  we 


SAN  JUAN  HILL.  123 

charged  from  Kettle  Hill  across  at  the  next 
line  of  hills  which  was  in  the  rear  where  there 
were  Spanish  trenches  and  another  block- 
house. General  Sumner  was  on  Kettle  Hill 
before  this  ;  he  had  been  riding  along  the 
lines  of  the  cavalry  seeing  that  they  went 
forward.  He  had  command  of  the  cavalry 
division  at  that  time.  Then  we  took  the 
next  line  of  intrenchments.  The  Spaniards 
were  still  firing  at  us,  and  we  formed  and 
went  to  the  left,  and  got  on  the  crest  of  the 
chain  of  hills  overlooking  Santiago.  By 
that  time  I  was  the  highest  officer  in  com- 
mand on  the  extreme  front,  and  I  had  six 
regiments  under  me.  Major  Wessels  had 
been  wounded,  and  Captains  Morton  and 
Boughton  came  up  and  reported  to  me,  and 
Captains  Stevens  and  McNamee  of  the  Ninth 
reported  to  me.  I  received  orders,  then, 
from  Captain  Howze,  of  General  Sumner's 
staff,  not  to  advance  but  to  hold  that  hill  at 
at  all  hazards.  Captain  Howze  was  always 
at  the  front  when  he  could  be.  We  held  the 
hill  until  nightfall,  when  we  received  orders 
to  intrench. 

"  We  had  captured  in  the  blockhouse  the 
Spanish  officers'  mess,  and  an  extremely 
good  officers'  mess  it  was,  better  than  any- 
thing we  had  had  ;  a  big  kettle  of  beef,  a 
kettle  of  rice,  and  peas,  and  a  big  demijohn 
of  rum,  and  a  lot  of  rice  flour  loaves,  and  so 


124   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

I  fed  those  out  to  my  men  ;  and  we  also  got 
a  lot  of  Spanish  intrenching  tools,  and  we 
threw  up  some  very  aboriginal  intrench- 
ments.  So  that  night  we  had  a  mild  feast  on 
the  Spaniards'  food. 

"We  intrenched  there.  As  I  have  seen 
talk  about  a  retreat  being  considered  from 
that  hill,  it  is  only  justice  to  say  that  the 
officers  on  the  extreme  front  of  that  line,  at 
least  on  my  part  of  the  line,  never  dreamed 
of  the  Spaniards  driving  us ;  they  were  all 
perfectly  horrified  at  the  idea  of  retreating. 
Captains  Morton  and  Boughton  came  over 
to  me  in  the  afternoon  to  say  that  someone 
had  spoken  of  retreating,  and  to  beg  me  to 
protest.  I  had  not  heard  of  it,  and  did  not 
believe  it  was  true.  I  knew  we  could  hold 
that  line  against  anything  that  could  come 
up  in  the  front." 

The  next  day  and  night  the  regiment  was 
under  fire  all  day,  and  about  nine  o'clock  at 
night  there  was  heavy  volley  firing,  and 
numbers  of  Spanish  skirmishers  came  out  ; 
but  though  they  used  smokeless  powder,  so 
that  in  the  daytime  no  smoke  was  seen,  yet 
at  night  little  spurts  of  flame,  helped  to  be- 
tray their  whereabouts. 

"  I  saw,  for  instance,  the  guns  on  our  left 
open  fire,  and  in  a  half-minute  after  the  first 
shot  there  would  be  this  thick  cloud  of 
smoke  hanging,  and  apparently  every  Spanish 


SAN  JUAN  HILL.  125 

gun  and  every  Spanish  rifle  within  a  radius 
of  a  mile  of  us  would  be  all  turned  on  that 
one  point,  and  the  gun  would  be  driven  out ; 
so  that  our  men — I  mean  the  dismounted 
cavalry— would  say,  '  There  go  the  artillery  ; 
they  will  be  driven  out.'  And  they  were. 
They  were  placed  back  in  the  rear  on  the 
following  day,  but  they  were  driven  oft  the 
firing  line  where  the  infantry  were.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Catlings,  which  were  man- 
aged by  Captain  Parker,  were  fought  on  the 
extreme  front  of  the  skirmish  line ;  he 
fought  his  Catlings  right  up  on  the  extreme 
front,  just  as  far  as  anybody  could  go.  He 
did  magnificently.  He  was  on  the  right  of 
our  regiment.  We  had  our  two  Colts,  and 
he  came  and  helped  us  put  our  two  Colts  in 
position.  We  didn't  think  we  had  put  our 
works  out  quite  far  enough,  and  we  zig- 
zagged an  approach  and  made  a  kind  of 
bastion  some  two  hundred  yards  out  on  the 
hill,  so  that  we  could  fire  right  into  the 
Spanish  works.  He  helped  us  dig  the  ap- 
proach, and  helped  us  get  our  Colt  automatic 
guns  fixed  just  right.  He  not  only  fought 
his  own  guns,  but  he  rendered  us  every 
assistance.  If  he  had  not  had  smokeless 
powder,  we  would  not  have  allowed  him  in 
the  trenches  unless  he  could  have  stayed 
there  in  spite  of  us.  I  would  say  that  some 
of  the  Seventy-first  New  York  came  up  in 


126    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

the  trenches  right  by  some  of  the  cavalry  of 
the  First  Brigade,  and  the  cavalrymen 
ordered  them  out,  saying  that  they  would 
not  have  them  in  the  trenches  ;  they  would 
rather  fight  without  support  than  with  the 
black  powder,  insuring  their  being  the  one 
point  at  which  the  enemy  were  firing." 


CHAPTER  A. 

OFFICIAL   REPORTS. 

No  just  man  can  withhold  praise  of  the 
bravery  displayed  by  the  Rough  Riders  and 
their  dauntless  leaders.  Too  many  proofs 
of  these  qualities  were  given  in  the  hot 
flame  of  battle  for  anyone  to  dispute  them. 
There  have  been  a  few  who  sneered  at 
these  heroes  of  San  Juan  Hill,  but  they  are 
not  among  those  who  took  part  in  that  des- 
perate fight.  The  Rough  Riders  formed 
only  a  part  of  the  victorious  force,  but  their 
comrades  of  other  commands  give  full  credit 
to  the  cowboys  and  "  dudes,"  for  what  they 
did  on  that  memorable  day. 

We  have  spoken  more  fully  of  the  Rough 
Riders,  because  Colonel  Theodore  Roose- 
velt was  their  leader,  and  we  are  writing  a 
biography  of  him.  Were  we  giving  a  full 
history  of  the  Spanish  American  war,  or  of 
our  military  operations  in  Cuba,  we  should 
have  a  good  deal  to  say  about  other  leaders 
and  other  troops.  To  avoid  all  possibility  of 
misunderstanding,  we  must  emphasize  the 
truth  that  the  Rough  Riders  were  no  braver 
127 


128    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

than  the  regulars  and  the  other  volunteers, 
nor  could  any  of  the  white  soldiers  surpass 
in  that  respect  the  colored  cavalry,  every 
man  of  whom  proved  himself  a  hero.  But 
for  their  aid  at  critical  moments,  it  is  not 
improbable  that  the  Rough  Riders  would 
have  been  wiped  off  the  earth.  The  just 
course  is  to  give  full  praise  to  all  the  officers 
and  troops  without  distinction,  though  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  some  of  the  officers 
of  one  of  the  white  regiments  have  been 
persistently  accused  of  shirking  in  the  mo- 
ment of  trial.  From  colonial  days  down  to 
the  present,  the  American  soldier  has  proved 
his  unflinching  heroism  on  the  battlefield 
and  on  the  ocean,  and,  when  we  read  of  some 
specially  daring  charge,  or  of  some  thrilling 
achievement,  our  hearts  glow  with  pride,  but 
we  add  :  "  It  is  no  more  than  we  expected, 
for  they  are  Americans." 

The  historian  looking  for  cold,  unques- 
tioned facts,  does  not  seek  them  in  the 
ardent  stories  of  participants,  whose  chances 
for  observation  are  always  limited,  but  rather 
in  the  careful  official  statements  of  the 
officers,  whose  business  it  is  to  sift  out  the 
facts  and  give  them  to  the  authorities.  Let 
us,  therefore,  turn  to  the  reports  of  Colonel 
Roosevelt,  written  with  the  sole  purpose  of 
telling  "  the  truth,  the  whole  truth  and  noth- 
ing but  the  truth." 


OFFICIAL  REPORTS.  129 

TRENCHES  OUTSIDE  SANTIAGO,  July  4, 1898. 

"  Col.  LEONARD  WOOD, 
"  Commanding  Second  Cavalry  Brigade. 

"  SIR  :  On  luly  i  the  regiment,  with  my- 
self in  command,  was  moved  out  by  your 
orders  directly  following  the  First  Brigade. 
Before  leaving  the  camping  ground  several 
of  our  men  were  wounded  by  shrapnel. 
After  crossing  the  river  at  the  ford  we  were 
moved  along  and  up  its  right  bank  under  fire 
and  were  held  in  reserve  at  a  sunken  road. 
Here  we  lost  a  good  many  men,  including 
Captain  O'Neil,  killed,  and  Lieutenant  Has- 
kell,  wounded.  We  then  received  your 
order  to  advance  and  support  the  regular 
cavalry  in  the  attack  on  the  intrenchments 
and  blockhouses  on  the  hills  to  the  left. 
The  regiment  was  deployed  on  both  sides 
of  the  road,  and  moved  forward  until  we 
came  to  the  rearmost  lines  of  the  regulars. 
We  continued  to  move  forward  until  I 
ordered  a  charge,  and  the  men  rushed  the 
blockhouse  and  rifle  pits  on  the  hill  to  the 
right  of  our  advance.  They  did  the  work 
in  fine  shape,  though  suffering  severely. 
The  guidons  of  Troops  E  and  G  were  first 
planted  on  the  summit,  though  the  first  men 
up  were  some  A  and  B  troopers,  who  were 
with  me. 

"We  then  opened  fire  on  the  intrench- 
ments on  a  hill  to  our  left  which  some  of 
9 


130   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

the  other  regiments  were  assailing  and  which 
they  carried  a  few  minutes  later.  Mean- 
while we  were  under  a  heavy  rifle  fire  from 
the  intrenchments  along  the  hills  to  our 
front,  from  whence  they  also  shelled  us  with 
a  piece  of  field  artillery  until  some  of  our 
marksmen  silenced  it.  When  the  men  got 
their  wind  we  charged  again  and  carried  the 
second  line  of  entrenchments  with  a  rush. 
Swinging  to  the  left,  we  then  drove  the 
Spaniards  over  the  brow  of  the  chain  of  hills 
fronting  Santiago.  By  this  time  the  regi- 
ments were  much  mixed,  and  we  were  under 
a  very  heavy  fire,  both  of  shrapnel  and  from 
rifles  from  the  batteries,  intrenchments,  and 
forts  immediately  in  front  of  the  city.  On 
the  extreme  front  I  now  found  myself  in 
command  with  fragments  of  the  six  cavalry 
regiments  of  the  two  brigades  under  me. 
The  Spaniards  made  one  or  two  efforts  to 
retake  the  line,  but  were  promptly  driven 
back. 

"  Both  General  Sumner  and  you  sent  me 
word  to  hold  the  line  at  all  hazards,  and  that 
night  we  dug  a  line  of  intrenchments  across 
our  front,  using  the  captured  Spaniards'  in- 
trenching tools.  We  had  nothing  to  eat 
except  what  we  captured  from  the  Spaz>- 
iards  ;  but  their  dinners  had  fortunately  been 
cooked,  and  we  ate  them  with  relish,  having 
been  fighting  all  day.  We  had  no  blankets 


OFFICIAL  REPORTS.  131 

and  coats,  and  lay  by  the  trenches  all  night. 
The  Spaniards  attacked  us  once  in  the  night, 
and  at  dawn  they  opposed  a  heavy  artillery 
and  rifle  fire.  Very  great  assistance  was 
rendered  us  by  Lieutenant  Parker's  Catling 
battery  at  critical  moments  ;  he  fought  his 
guns  at  the  extreme  front  of  the  firing  line 
in  a  way  that  repeatedly  called  forth  the 
cheers  of  my  men.  One  of  the  Spanish 
batteries  which  was  used  against  us  was 
directly  in  front  of  the  hospital  so  that  the 
Red  Cross  flag  flew  over  the  battery,  saving 
it  from  our  fire  for  a  considerable  period. 
The  Spanish  Mauser  bullets  made  clean 
wounds  ;  but  they  also  used  a  copper- 
jacketed  or  brass-jacketed  bullet  which 
exploded,  making  very  bad  wounds  in- 
deed. 

"  Since  then  we  have  continued  to  hold 
the  ground  ;  the  food  has  been  short ;  and 
until  to-day  we  could  not  get  our  blankets, 
coats,  or  shelter  tents,  while  the  men  lay  all 
day  under  the  fire  from  the  Spanish  batteries, 
intrenchments,  and  guerrillas  in  trees,  and 
worked  all  night  in  the  trenches,  never  even 
taking  off  their  shoes.  But  they  are  in  ex- 
cellent spirits,  and  ready  and  anxious  to 
carry  out  any  orders  they  receive.  At  the 
end  of  the  first  day  the  eight  troops  were 
commanded,  two  by  captains,  three  by  first 
lieutenants,  two  by  second  lieutenants,  and 


132    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

one  by  the  sergeant  whom  you  made  acting 
lieutenant. 

"  We  went  into  the  fight  about  490  strong, 
86  were  killed  or  wounded,  and  there  are 
about  half  a  dozen  missing.  The  great  heat 
prostrated  nearly  40  men,  some  of  them 
among  the  best  in  the  regiment.  Besides 
Captain  O'Neil  and  Lieutenant  Haskell, 
Lieutenants  Leahy,  Devereux,  and  Carr  were 
wounded.  All  behaved  with  great  gallantry. 
As  for  Captain  O'Neil,  his  loss  is  one  of  the 
severest  that  could  have  befallen  the  regi- 
ment. He  was  a  man  of  cool  head,  great 
executive  capacity,  and  literally  dauntless 
courage. 

"  The  guerrillas  in  trees  not  only  fired  at 
our  troops,  but  seemed  to  devote  themselves 
especially  to  shooting  at  the  surgeons,  the 
hospital  assistants  with  Red  Cross  bandages 
on  their  arms,  the  wounded  who  were  being 
carried  in  litters,  and  the  burying  parties. 
Many  of  the  guerrillas  were  dressed  in  green 
uniforms.  We  sent  out  a  detail  of  sharp- 
shooters among  those  in  our  rear,  along  the 
line  where  they  had  been  shooting  the 
wounded,  and  killed  thirteen. 

"  To  attempt  to  give  a  list  of  the  men  who 
showed  signal  valor  would  necessitate  send- 
ing in  an  almost  complete  roster  of  the  regi- 
ment. Many  of  the  cases  which  I  mention 
stand  merely  as  examples,  pf  the  rest,  not  as, 


OFFICIAL  REPORTS.  133 

exceptions.  Captain  Jenkins  acted  as  major, 
and  showed  such  conspicuous  gallantry  and 
efficiency  that  I  earnestly  hope  he  may  be 
promoted  to  major  as  soon  as  a  vacancy  oc- 
curs. Captains  Lewellen,  Muller,  and  Luna 
led  their  troops  throughout  the  charges, 
handling  them  admirably.  At  the  end  of 
the  battle  Lieutenants  Kane,  Greenwood, 
and  Goodrich  were  in  charge  of  their  troops, 
immediately  under  my  eye,  and  I  wish  par- 
ticularly to  commend  their  conduct  through- 
out. Lieutenant  Franz,  who  commanded 
his  troop,  also  did  well. 

"  Corporals  Waller  and  Fortesque  and 
Trooper  McKinley,  of  Troop  E;  Corporal 
Rhoads,  of  troop  D ;  Troopers  Allerton, 
Winter,  MacGregor,  and  Ray  Clark,  of  Troop 
F  ;  Troopers  Bugbee,  Jackson,  and  Waller, 
of  Troop  A ;  Trumpeter  Macdonald,  of 
Troop  L  ;  Sergeant  Hughes,  of  Troop  B,  and 
Trooper  Geiven,  of  Troop  G,  all  continued 
to  fight  after  being  wounded,  some  very 
severely.  Most  of  them  fought  until  the 
end  of  the  day. 

"  Trooper  Oliver  B.  Norton,  of  B,  with  his 
brother,  was  by  my  side  throughout  the 
charging,  was  killed  while  fighting  with 
marked  gallantry.  Sergeant  Ferguson,  Cor- 
poral Lee,  and  Troopers  Bell  and  Carrol,  of 
Troop  K  ;  Sergeant  Daine,  of  Troop  E  ; 
Troopers  Goodwin,  Campbell,  and  Dudley 


134:    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

Dean,  and  Trumpeter  Foster,  of  B,  and 
Troopers  Greenwald  and  Bardelas,  of  A,  are 
all  worthy  of  special  mention  for  coolness 
and  gallantry.  They  merit  promotion  when 
the  opportunity  comes.  But  the  most  con- 
spicuous gallantry  was  shown  by  Trooper 
Rowland.  He  was  wounded  in  the  side  in 
our  first  fight,  but  kept  in  the  firing  line. 
He  was  sent  to  the  hospital  next  day,  but 
left  it  and  marched  out  to  us,  overtaking  us, 
and  fought  all  through  this  battle  with  such 
indifference  to  danger  that  I  was  forced 
again  and  again  to  rate  and  threaten  him  for 
running  needless  risk. 

"  Great  gallantry  was  also  shown  by  four 
troopers  whom  I  cannot  identify,  and  by 
Trooper  Winslow  Clark,  of  G.  It  was  after 
we  had  taken  the  first  hill— I  had  called  out 
to  rush  the  second,  and,  having  by  that  time 
lost  my  horse,  climbed  a  wire  fence  and 
started  toward  it.  After  going  a  couple  of 
hundred  yards,  under  a  heavy  fire,  I  found 
that  no  one  else  had  come  ;  as  I  discovered 
later,  it  was  simply  because  in  the  confusion, 
with  men  shooting  and  being  shot,  they  had 
not  noticed  me  start.  I  told  the  five  men 
to  wait  a  moment,  as  it  might  be  misunder- 
stood if  we  all  ran  back,  while  I  ran  back 
and  started  the  regiment  ;  and  as  soon  as  I 
did  so  the  regiment  came  with  a  rush.  But 
meanwhile  the  five  men  coolly  lay  down  in 


OFFICIAL  REPORTS.  135 

the  open,  returning  the  fire  from  the  trenches. 
It  is  to  be  wondered  at  that  only  Clark  was 
seriously  wounded,  and  he  called  out,  as  we 
parted  again,  to  lay  his  canteen  where  he 
could  reach  it,  but  to  continue  the  charge  and 
leave  him  where  he  was.  All  the  wounded 
had  to  be  left  until  after  the  fight,  for  we 
could  spare  no  men  from  the  firing  line. 
Very  respectfully, 

"THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

"  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
First  United  States  Volunteer  Cavalry." 


"CAMP  HAMILTON,  NEAR  SANTIAGO  DE  CUBA, 

July  20,  1898. 
"  Brig.-Gen.  LEONARD  WOOD, 

"  Commanding  Second  Brigade  Cavalry 
Division. 

"  SIR  :  In  obedience  to  your  directions, 
I  herewith  report  on  the  operations  of  my 
regiment  from  the  ist  to  the  iyth  instant, 
inclusive. 

"  As  I  have  already  made  you  two  reports 
about  the  first  day's  operations,  I  shall  pass 
them  over  rather  briefly.  On  the  morning 
of  the  ist  my  regiment  was  formed  at  the 
head  of  the  Second  Brigade,  by  the  El  Poso 
sugar  mill.  .When  the  batteries  opened,  the 
Spaniards  replied  to  us  with  shrapnel,  which 
killed  and  wounded  several  of  the  men  of 


136    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

my  regiment.  We  then  marched  toward 
the  right,  and  my  regiment  crossed  the  ford 
before  the  balloon  came  down  there  and 
attracted  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  so  that  at 
that  point  we  lost  no  one.  My  orders  had 
been  to  march  forward  until  I  joined  General 
Lawton's  left  wing,  but  after  going  about 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  I  was  halted  and 
told  to  remain  in  reserve  near  the  creek  by  a 
deep  lane.  The  bullets  dropped  thick 
among  us  for  the  next  hour  while  we  lay 
there,  and  many  of  my  men  were  killed  or 
wounded.  Among  the  former  was  Captain 
O'Neil,  whose  loss  was  a  very  heavy  blow  to 
the  regiment,  for  he  was  a  singularly  gal- 
lant and  efficient  officer.  Acting  Lieutenant 
Haskell  was  also  shot  at  this  time.  He 
showed  the  utmost  courage,  and  had  been 
of  great  use  during  the  fighting  and  march- 
ing. It  seems  to  me  some  action  should  be 
taken  about  him. 

"You  then  sent  me  word  to  move  for- 
ward in  support  of  the  regular  cavalry,  and 
I  advanced  the  regiment  in  columns  of  com- 
panies, each  company  deployed  as  skirmish- 
ers. We  moved  through  several  skirmish 
lines  of  the  regiment  ahead  of  us,  as  it 
seemed  to  me  that  our  only  chance  was  in 
rushing  the  intrenchments  in  front  instead 
of  firing  at  them  from  a  distance.  Accord- 
ingly we  charged  the  blockhouse  and  in- 


OFFICIAL  REPORTS.  137 

trenchments  on  the  hill  to  our  right  against 
a  heavy  fire.  It  was  taken  in  good  style, 
the  men  of  my  regiment  thus  being  the  first 
to  capture  any  fortified  position  and  to  break 
through  the  Spanish  lines.  The  guidons  of 
G  and  E  troops  were  first  at  this  point,  but 
some  of  the  men  of  A  and  B  troops  who 
were  with  me  personally  got  in  ahead  of 
them.  At  the  last  wire  fence  up  this  hill  I 
was  obliged  to  abandon  my  horse,  and  after 
that  went  on  foot.  After  capturing  this  hill 
we  first  of  all  directed  a  heavy  fire  upon  the 
San  Juan  hill  to  our  left,  which  was  at  the 
time  being  assailed  by  the  regular  infantry 
and  cavalry,  supported  by  Captain  Parker's 
Catling  guns.  By  the  time  San  Juan  was 
taken  a  large  force  had  assembled  on  the  hill 
we  had  previously  captured,  consisting  not 
only  of  my  own  regiment  but  of  the  Ninth 
and  of  portions  of  other  cavalry  regiments. 
We  then  charged  forward  under  a  heavy 
fire  across  the  valley  against  the  Spanish  in- 
trenchments  on  the  hill  in  the  rear  of  San 
Juan  hill.  This  we  also  took,  capturing  sev- 
eral prisoners.  We  then  formed  in  what 
order  we  could  and  moved  forward,  driving 
the  Spaniards  before  us  to  the  crest  of  the 
hills  in  our  front,  which  were  immediately 
opposite  the  city  of  Santiago  itself.  Here  I 
received  orders  to  halt  and  hold  the  line  of 
the  hill  crest.  I  had  at  that  time  fragments 


138    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

of  the  six  cavalry  regiments  and  an  occa- 
sional infantryman  under  me— three  or  four 
hundred  men  all  told.  As  I  was  the  highest 
there,  I  took  command  of  all  of  them,  and  so 
continued  until  next  morning. 

"  The  Spanish  attempted  a  counter  attack 
that  afternoon,  but  were  easily  driven  back, 
and  then  and  until  dark  we  remained  under 
a  heavy  fire  from  their  rifles  and  great 
guns,  lying  flat  on  our  faces  on  the  gentle 
slope  just  behind  the  crest.  Captain  Par- 
ker's Catling  Battery  was  run  up  to  the 
right  of  my  regiment,  and  did  most  excellent 
and  gallant  service.  In  order  to  charge, 
the  men  had,  of  course,  been  obliged  to 
throw  away  their  packs,  and  we  had  nothing 
to  sleep  in  and  nothing  to  eat.  We  were 
lucky  enough,  however,  to  find  in  the  last 
blockhouse  captured,  the  Spanish  dinner 
still  cooking,  which  we  ate  with  relish.  It 
consisted  chiefly  of  rice  and  peas,  with  a 
big  pot  containing  a  stew  of  fresh  meat, 
probably  for  the  officers.  We  also  dis- 
tributed the  captured  Spanish  blankets  as 
far  as  they  would  go  among  our  men,  and 
gathered  a  good  deal  of  the  Mauser  ammu- 
nition for  use  in  the  Colt's  rapid-fire  guns 
which  were  being  brought  up.  That  night 
we  dug  intrenchments  across  our  front.  At 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  Spaniards 
made  another  attack  upon  us,  which  was 


OFFICIAL  REPORTS.  139 

easily  repelled,  and  at  four  they  opened  the 
day  with  a  heavy  rifle  and  shrapnel  fire.  All 
day  long  we  lay  under  this,  replying  when- 
ever we  got  the  chance.  In  the  evening, 
at  about  eight  o'clock,  the  Spaniards  fired 
their  guns,  and  then  a  heavy  rifle  fire,  their 
skirmishers  coming  well  forward.  I  got  all 
my  men  down  into  the  trenches,  as  did  the 
other  commands  near  me,  and  we  opened  a 
heavy  return  fire.  The  Spanish  advance 
was  at  once  stopped,  and  after  an  hour  their 
fire  died  away.  This  night  we  completed 
most  of  our  trenches,  and  began  to  build 
bombproofs.  The  protection  afforded  to  our 
men  was  good,  and  next  morning  had  but 
one  man  wounded  from  the  rifle  and  shell 
fire  until  twelve  o'clock,  when  the  truce 
came. 

"I  do  not  mention  the  officers  and  men 
who  particularly  distinguished  themselves, 
as  I  have  nothing  to  add  in  this  respect  to 
what  was  contained  in  my  two  former  let- 
ters. There  were  numerous  Red  Cross  flags 
flying  in  various  parts  of  the  city,  two  of 
them  so  arranged  that  they  directly  covered 
batteries  in  our  front,  and  for  some  time 
were  the  cause  of  our  not  firing  at  them. 
The  Spanish  guerrillas  were  very  active, 
especially  in  our  rear,  where  they  seemed 
by  preference  to  attack  the  wounded  men 
who  were  being  carried  on  litters,  the  doc- 


140    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

tors  and  medical  attendants  with  Red  Cross 
bandages  on  their  arms,  and  the  burial 
parties.  I  organized  a  detail  of  sharpshoot- 
ers and  sent  them  out  after  the  guerrillas,  of 
whom  they  killed  thirteen.  Two  of  the  men 
thus  killed  were  shot  several  hours  after  the 
truce  had  been  in  operation,  because,  in 
spite  of  this  fact,  they  kept  firing  upon  our 
men  as  they  went  to  draw  water.  They 
were  stationed  in  trees  (as  guerrillas  were 
generally),  and  owing  to  the  density  of  the 
foliage  and  to  the  use  of  smokeless-powder 
rifles,  it  was  an  exceedingly  difficult  matter 
to  locate  them.  For  the  next  seven  days, 
until  the  loth,  we  lay  in  our  lines,  while  the 
truce  continued.  We  had  continually  to 
work  at  additional  bombproofs  and  at  the 
trenches,  and  as  we  had  no  proper  supply  of 
food  and  utterly  inadequate  medical  facil- 
ities, the  men  suffered  a  good  deal.  The 
officers  clubbed  together  to  purchase  beans, 
tomatoes,  and  sugar  for  the  men,  so  that 
they  might  have  some  relief  from  the  bacon 
and  hard-tack.  With  a  great  deal  of  diffi- 
culty we  got  them  coffee. 

"  As  for  the  sick  and  wounded,  they  suf- 
fered so  in  the  hospitals  when  sent  to  the 
rear  from  lack  of  food  and  attention  that  we 
found  it  best  to  keep  them  at  the  front  and 
give  them  such  care  as  our  own  doctors 
could.  As  I  mentioned  in  my  previous  letter 


OFFICIAL  REPORTS.  Hi 

thirteen  of  our  wounded  men  continued  to 
fight  through  the  battle  in  spite  of  their 
wounds,  and  of  those  sent  to  the  rear  many, 
both  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  came  up  to 
rejoin  us  as  soon  as  their  condition  allowed 
them  to  walk.  Most  of  the  worst  cases 
were  ultimately  sent  to  the  States. 

On  the  tenth  the  truce  was  at  an  end,  and 
the  bombardment  reopened.  As  far  as  our 
lines  were  concerned,  it  was  on  the  Spanish 
part  very  feeble.  We  suffered  no  losses,  and 
speedily  got  the  fire  from  their  trenches  in 
our  front  completely  under.  On  the  nth 
we  were  moved  three-quarters  of  a  mile  to 
the  right,  the  truce  again  being  on.  Noth- 
ing happened  here  except  we  continued  to 
watch  and  do  our  best  to  get  the  men,  espe- 
cially the  sick,  properly  fed  ;  and  having  no 
transportation  and  being  unable  to  get 
hardly  any  through  the  regular  channels,  we 
used  anything  we  could  find — captured 
Spanish  cavalry  horses,  abandoned  mules, 
which  had  been  shot,  but  which  our  men 
took  and  cured,  diminutive  skinny  ponies 
purchased  from  the  Cubans,  etc.  By  these 
means  and  by  the  exertions  of  the  officers 
we  were  able  from  time  to  time  to  get  sup- 
plies of  beans,  sugar,  tomatoes,  and  even 
oatmeal,  while  from  the  Red  Cross  people 
we  got  one  invaluable  load  of  rice,  corn 
meal?  etc.  All  of  this  was  of  the  utmost 


142    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

consequence,  not  only  for  the  sick  nor- 
mically  well,  as  the  lack  of  proper  food  was 
telling  terribly  on  the  men.  It  was  utterly 
impossible  to  get  them  clothes  and  shoes  ; 
those  they  had  were,  in  many  cases,  literally 
dropping  to  pieces. 

"  On  the  1 7th  the  city  surrendered.  On 
the  1 8th  we  shifted  camp  to  here,  the  best 
camp  we  have  had  ;  but  the  march  hither 
under  the  noonday  sun  told  very  heavily  on 
our  men,  weakened  by  underfeeding  and 
overwork,  and  next  morning  one  hundred 
and  twenty-three  cases  were  reported  to  the 
doctors,  and  I  now  have  but  half  the  six 
hundred  men  with  which  I  landed  four 
weeks  ago,  fit  for  duty,  and  these  are  not  fit 
to  do  an}'thing  like  the  work  they  could  do 
then.  As  we  had  but  one  wagon,  the 
change  necessitated  leaving  much  of  the 
stuff  behind,  with  a  night  of  discomfort,  with 
scanty  shelter  and  scanty  food,  for  most  of 
the  officers  and  many  of  the  men.  Only  the 
possession  of  the  improvised  pack  train 
alluded  to  above  saved  this  from  being 
worse.  Yesterday  I  sent  in  a  detail  of  six 
officers  and  men  to  see  if  they  could  not 
purchase  or  make  arrangements  for  a  supply 
of  proper  food  and  proper  clothing  for  the 
men,  even  if  we  had  to  pay  for  it  out  of  our 
own  pockets.  Our  suffering  has  been  due 
primarily  to  lack  of  transportation,  and  of 


OFFICIAL  REPORTS.  143 

proper  food,  and  sufficient  clothing,  and  of 
medical    supplies.     We   should   now  have 
wagon  sheets  for  tentage. 
"  Very  respectfully, 

"  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  ROUND   ROBIN. 

THE  surrender  of  the  city  and  province  of 
Santiago  took  place  on  July  17,  but  the 
island  was  not  yet  conquered.  The  end  was 
nearer,  however,  than  was  generally  sup- 
posed. The  Spanish  fleets  had  been  de- 
stroyed and  it  was  known  that  Porto  Rico 
would  be  taken  without  serious  difficulty. 
Havana,  the  capital  of  Cuba,  was  strongly 
fortified  and  undoubtedly  would  prove  a 
hard  nut  to  crack.  The  plan,  therefore,  was 
that  our  military  forces,  not  needed  else- 
where, should  remain  on  the  island  until  the 
capital  was  taken. 

This  scheme  involved  a  peril  more  appall- 
ing than  that  of  war, — a  peril  that  no  human 
bravery  could  overcome.  It  is  useless  to 
deny  that  the  grossest  mismanagement 
marked  about  every  phase  of  our  war  with 
Spain,  except  the  single  one  of  fighting, 
where  the  heroism  of  men  and  officers  over- 
came every  obstacle.  The  transportation  of 
troops,  the  provisions  and  medical  supplies, 


THE  ROUND  ROBIN.  145 

the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  the  camp 
equipments,  everything,  in  fact,  was  as  bad 
as  it  could  be.  Japan  in  the  late  war  with 
Russia  gave  the  world  a  needed  lesson, — one 
that  was  never  given  before  by  any  nation. 
She  reduced  the  deaths  from  disease  to 
hardly  one  per  cent,  of  those  slain  in  battle. 
During  our  Civil  War,  the  death  rate  in  the 
hospitals  was  vastly  greater  than  in  the  field. 
It  has  been  the  same  always  with  us,  with 
England,  with  France,  and  other  leading 
Powers,  and  it  was  the  same  in  Cuba.  That 
rich,  fertile  land  is  the  home  and  breeding- 
place  of  yellow  fever,  one  of  the  most 
dreaded  scourges  of  humanity.  With  the 
approach  of  summer,  it  was  certain  to  de- 
velop among  our  troops  and  do  ten  times 
more  damage  than  the  Spanish  guns  could 
inflict.  The  plan  was  to  defer  active  opera- 
tions until  the  coming  of  cool  weather,  when 
nothing  was  to  be  feared  from  yellow 
fever. 

Meanwhile,  what  was  to  be  done  with  the 
troops  already  in  Cuba  ?  The  government 
thought  that  by  sending  them  into  camps  in 
the  interior,  the  danger  from  yellow  fever 
would  be  escaped,  but  those  on  the  ground 
knew  better.  Hundreds  of  men  were  already 
suffering  from  malaria,  and  several  cases  of 
sporadic  yellow  fever  had  appeared.  With 
the  best  sanitary  regulations  that  could  be 
10 


146   FROM  THE  EANCIi  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

provided,  and  the  best  would  be  poor — the 
destructive  disease  would  pursue  them,  so 
long  as  they  remained  anywhere  on  the 
island.  Therefore,  there  was  but  one  thing 
to  do — withdraw  from  Cuba  until  the  danger- 
ous season  had  passed,  and  the  troops, 
rugged,  healthy  and  ardent  for  the  work, 
would  return  in  the  autumn.  Colonel 
Roosevelt  thus  refers  to  the  grave  peril  and 
the  steps  taken  to  avert  it : 

"  Santiago  de  Cuba,  August  4,  1898.— 
Summoned  by  Major  General  Shafter,  a 
meeting  was  held  here  this  morning  at  head- 
quarters, and  in  the  presence  of  every  com- 
manding and  medical  officer  of  the  Fifth 
Corps,  General  Shafter  read  a  cable  message 
from  Secretary  Alger,  ordering  him,  at  the 
recommendation  of  Surgeon  General  Stern- 
berg,  to  move  the  army  into  the  interior  of 
San  Luis,  where  it  is  supposed  to  be  more 
healthful. 

"As  a  result  of  the  conference,  General 
Shafter  will  insist  upon  the  immediate  with- 
drawal of  the  army  north,  or  within  two 
weeks.  As  an  explanation  of  the  situation, 
the  following  letter  from  Colonel  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  commanding  the  First  Volunteer 
Cavalry,  to  General  Shafter,  was  handed  by 
the  latter  to  the  correspondent  of  the  Asso- 
ciated Press  for  publication ; 


THE  ROUND  ROBIN.  14.7 

"  '  Major  General  Shafter,  Sir  :  In  a  meet- 
ing of  the  general  and  medical  officers  called 
by  you  at  the  Palace  this  morning,  we  were 
all,  as  you  know,  unanimous  as  to  what 
should  be  done  with  the  army.  To  keep  us 
here,  in  the  opinion  of  every  officer  com- 
manding a  division  or  brigade,  will  simply 
involve  the  destruction  of  thousands.  There 
is  no  possible  reason  for  not  shipping  prac- 
tically the  entire  command  North  at  once. 
Yellow  fever  cases  are  very  few  in  the  cavalry 
division  where  I  command  one  of  the  two 
brigades,  and  not  one  true  case  of  yellow 
fever  has  occurred  in  this  division,  except 
among  the  men  sent  to  the  hospital  at  Si- 
boney,  where  they  have,  I  believe,  contracted 
it.  But  in  this  division  there  have  been  fif- 
teen hundred  cases  of  malarial  fever.  Not 
a  man  has  died  from  it,  but  the  whole  com- 
mand has  been  so  weakened  and  shattered 
as  to  be  ripe  for  dying  like  rotten  sheep, 
when  a  real  yellow  fever  epidemic,  instead 
of  a  fake  epidemic  like  the  present,  strikes 
us,  as  it  is  bound  to  if  we  stay. here  at  the 
height  of  the  sickness  season,  August,  and 
the  beginning  of  September.  Quarantine 
against  malarial  fever  is  like  quarantine 
against  the  toothache,  all  of  us  are  certain, 
as  soon  as  the  authorities  fully  appreciate 
the  conditions  of  the  army,  they  will  order 
us  to  be  sent  home, 


248    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

"  '  If  we  are  kept  here,  it  will  in  all  human 
possibility  mean  an  appalling  disaster,  for  the 
surgeons  here  estimate  that  over  half  the  army, 
if  kept  here  during  the  sickly  season,  will 
die.  This  is  not  only  terrible  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  individual  lives  lost,  but  it  means 
ruin  from  the  standpoint  of  the  military  effi- 
ciency of  the  flower  of  the  American  Army, 
for  the  great  bulk  of  the  regulars  are  here 
with  you.  The  sick  list,  large  although  it  is, 
exceeding  four  thousand,  affords  but  a  faint 
index  of  the  debilities  of  the  army.  Not  ten 
per  cent  are  fit  for  active  work. 

"  '  Six  weeks  on  the  North  Maine  coast,  for 
instance,  or  elsewhere,  where  the  yellow 
fever  germ  can  not  possibly  propagate,  would 
make  us  all  as  fit  as  fighting  cocks,  able  as 
we  are,  and  eager  to  take  a  leading  part  in 
the  great  campaign  against  Havana  in  the 
Fall,  even  if  we  are  not  allowed  to  try  Puerto 
Rico. 

"  '  We  can  be  moved  North,  if  moved  at 
once,  with  absolute  safety  to  the  country, 
although,  of  course,  it  would  have  been  in- 
finitely better  if  we  had  been  moved  North 
or  to  Puerto  Rico  two  weeks  ago.  If  there 
were  any  object  in  keeping  us  here,  we 
would  face  yellow  fever  with  as  much  indif- 
ference as  we  face  bullets.  But  there  is  no 
object  in  it.  The  fever  immune  regiments 
ordered  here  are  sufficient  to  garrison  thQ 


THE  ROUND  ROBIN.  149 

city  and  surrounding  towns,  and  there  is  ab- 
solutely nothing  for  us  to  do  here,  and  there 
has  not  been  since  the  city  surrendered.  It 
is  impossible  to  move  into  the  interior. 
Every  shifting  of  camp  doubles  the  sick  rate 
in  our  present  weakened  condition,  and,  any- 
how, the  interior  is  rather  worse  than  the 
coast,  as  I  have  found  by  actual  reconnois- 
sance.  Our  present  camps  are  as  healthy 
as  any  camps  at  this  end  of  the  island  can 
be. 

"  '  I  write  only  because  I  can  not  see  our 
men,  who  have  fought  so  bravely  and  who 
have  endured  extreme  hardship  and  danger 
so  uncomplainingly,  go  to  destruction  with- 
out striving,  so  far  as  lies  in  me,  to  avert  a 
doom  as  fearful  as  it  is  unnecessary  and  un- 
deserved. 

11 '  Yours  respectfully, 
'"THEODORE  ROOSEVELT, 
"  '  Colonel  Commanding  First  Brigade." 

All  the  general  officers  united  in  the  fol- 
lowing communication  to  General  Shafter  : 

"  We,  the  undersigned  officers,  command- 
ing the  various  brigades,  divisions,  etc.,  of 
the  army  of  occupation  in  Cuba,  are  of  the 
unanimous  opinion  that  this  army  should  be 
at  once  taken  out  of  the  Island  of  Cuba,  and 


150    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

sent  to  some  point  on  the  seacoast  of  the 
United  States ;  that  it  can  be  done  without 
danger  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  ; 
that  yellow  fever  in  the  army  is  not  now 
epidemic  ;  that  there  are  only  a  few  sporadic 
cases ;  but  that  the  army  is  disabled  by 
malarial  fever  to  the  extent  that  its  efficiency 
is  destroyed,  and  that  it  is  in  a  condition  to 
be  practically  entirely  destroyed  by  an  epi- 
demic of  yellow  fever  which  is  sure  to  come 
in  the  near  future. 

"  We  know  from  the  reports  of  competent 
officers  and  from  personal  observations, 
that  the  army  is  unable  to  move  into  the  in- 
terior, and  that  there  are  no  facilities  for 
such  a  move  if  attempted,  and  that  it  could 
not  be  attempted  until  too  late.  Moreover, 
the  best  authorities  of  the  island  say  that 
with  our  present  equipment  we  could  not 
live  in  the  interior  during  the  rainy  season 
without  losses  from  malarial  fever,  which  is 
almost  as  deadly  as  yellow  fever. 

"  This  army  must  be  moved  at  once  or 
perish.  As  the  army  can  be  safely  moved 
now,  the  persons  responsible  for  preventing 
such  a  move  will  be  responsible  for  the  un- 
necessary loss  of  many  thousands  of  lives. 
Our  opinions  are  the  result  of  careful  per- 
sonal observation  and  they  are  also  based 
on  the  unanimous  opinion  of  our  medical 


THE  ROUND  ROBIN.  151 

officers  with  the  army,  who  understand  the 
situation  absolutely. 

"J.  FORD  KENT, 

"  Major  General  Volunteers, 
Commanding  First  Division  5th  Corps. 
"  J.  C.  BATES, 

"Major  General  Volunteers, 
Commanding  Provisional  Division. 
"ADNA  R.  CHAFFEE, 

"  Major  General, 

Commanding  Third  Brigade,  Second 
Division. 
"  SAMUEL  S.  SUMNER, 

"  Brigadier  General  Volunteers, 
Commanding  First  Brigade  Cavalry. 
"ADELBERT  AMES, 

"  Brigadier  General  Volunteers, 
Commanding  Third   Brigade,    2nd 
Division. 
"  LEONARD  WOOD, 

"  Brigadier  General  Volunteers, 
Commanding  Second  Cavalry  Brigade. 
"THEODORE  ROOSEVELT, 

"  Colonel 
Commanding  Second  Cavalry  Brigade." 

This  was  the  famous  Round  Robin,  which 
attracted  so  much  attention  throughout  the 
country.  (The  term  originated  in  France 
and  comes  from  the  words  rond,  round, 
and  ruban,  ribbon).  President  McKinley 


152    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

first  learned  of  it  through  the  newspapers. 
He  was  annoyed,  while  Secretary  of  War 
Alger  became  indignant.  The  paper  was 
published  August  4.  The  Secretary  cabled 
a  sharp  reproof  to  General  Shafter,  for  giv- 
ing out  the  document  without  permission 
from  the  War  Department.  General  Shafter 
replied  saying  that  the  paper  was  furnished 
the  press  before  it  reached  him.  Alger 
made  every  effort  to  learn  who  was  re- 
sponsible for  the  publication,  but  failed. 
On  the  same  date,  the  Secretary  of  War 
ordered  General  Shafter's  troops  relieved 
from  further  duty  in  Santiago  as  fast  as 
transportation  could  be  provided,  and  the 
transfer  of  Spanish  prisoners  would  admit 
of  reduction  of  the  garrison.  Montauk  Point 
was  selected  as  the  place  where  the  troops 
would  rest  and  prepare  for  the  campaign 
against  Havana  later  in  the  season. 

Referring  to  the  Round  Robin,  General 
Alger  said  that  its  mischievous  and  wicked 
effects  could  not  be  exaggerated.  "  It 
afflicted  the  country  with  a  plague  of  anguish 
and  apprehension.  There  are  martyrs  in  all 
wars,  but  the  most  piteous  of  these  are  the 
silent,  helpless,  heartbroken  ones  who  stay 
at  home  to  weep  and  pray  and  wait— the 
mother,  the  sister,  wife  and  sweetheart.  To 
their  natural  suspense  and  suffering  these 
publications  added  the  pangs  of  imaginary 


THE  ROUND  ROBIN.  153 

terrors.  They  had  endured,  through  sympa- 
thy, the  battle-field,  the  wasting  hardships 
of  the  camp,  the  campaign  in  the  tropics, 
the  fever-stricken  trench.  They  might  at 
least  have  been  spared  this  wanton  torture, 
this  impalpable  and  formless  yet  overwhelm- 
ing blow." 

There  could  be  no  mistaking  the  opinion 
of  Colonel  Roosevelt,  as  he  has  given  it  in 
his  history  of  the  Rough  Riders  : 

"We  should  have  probably  spent  the 
summer  in  our  sick  camps,  losing  half  the 
men  and  hopelessly  shattering  the  health  of 
the  remainder,  if  General  Shafter  had  not 
summoned  a  council  of  officers,  hoping  by 
united  action  of  a  more  or  less  public  charac- 
ter, to  wake  up  the  Washington  authorities 
to  the  actual  condition  of  things.  As  all  the 
Spanish  forces  in  the  province  of  Santiago  had 
surrendered,  and  as  so-called  immune  regi- 
ments were  coming  to  garrison  the  conquered 
territory,  there  was  literally  not  one  thing 
of  any  kind  whatsoever  for  the  army  to  do, 
and  no  purpose  to  serve  by  keeping  it  at 
Santiago.  We  did  not  suppose  that  peace 
was  at  hand,  being  ignorant  of  the  negotia- 
tions. We  were  anxious  to  take  part  in  the 
Porto  Rico  campaign,  and  would  have  been 
more  than  willing  to  suffer  any  amount  of 
sickness,  if  by  so  doing  we  could  get  into 
action.  But  if  we  were  not  to  take  part  in 


154   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

the  Porto  Rico  campaign,  then  we  knew  it 
was  absolutely  indispensable  to  get  our  com- 
mands north  immediately,  if  they  were  to  be 
in  trim  for  the  great  campaign  against  Havana, 
which  would  surely  be  the  main  event  of  the 
winter  if  peace  were  not  declared  in  advance. 

"  Our  army  included  the  great  majority  of 
the  Regulars,  and  was,  therefore,  the  flower 
of  the  American  force.  It  was  on  every 
account  imperative  to  keep  it  in  good  trim  ; 
and  to  keep  it  in  Santiago  meant  its  entirely 
purposeless  destruction.  As  soon  as  the 
surrender  was  an  accomplished  fact,  the  tak- 
ing away  of  the  army  to  the  north  should 
have  begun. 

"  Every  officer,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest,  especially  among  the  regulars,  re- 
alized all  of  this,  and  about  the  last  day  of 
July,  General  Shatter  called  a  conference, 
in  the  Palace,  of  all  the  division  and  brigade 
commanders.  By  this  time,  owing  to 
Wood's  having  been  made  Governor-Gen- 
eral, I  was  in  command  of  my  brigade  ;  so 
I  went  to  the  conference  too,  riding  in  with 
Generals  Summer  and  Wheeler,  who  were 
the  other  representatives  of  the  cavalry 
division.  Besides  the  line  officers,  all  the 
chief  medical  officers  were  present  at  the 
conference.  The  telegrams  from  the  Secre- 
tary stating  the  position  of  himself  and  the 
Surgeon-General  were  read,  and  then  almost 


THE  ROUND  EOBIN.  155 

every  line  and  medical  officer  present  ex- 
pressed his  views  in  turn.  They  were 
almost  all  Regulars  and  had  been  brought 
up  to  life-long  habits  of  obedience  without 
protest.  They  were  ready  to  obey  still,  but 
they  felt,  quite  rightly,  that  it  was  their  duty 
to  protest  rather  than  to  see  the  flower  of 
the  United  States  forces  destroyed  as  the 
culminating  act  of  a  campaign  in  which  the 
blunders  that  had  been  committed  had  been 
retrieved  only  by  the  valor  and  splendid 
soldierly  qualities  of  the  officers  and  enlisted 
men  of  the  infantry  and  dismounted  cavalry. 
There  was  not  a  dissenting  voice,  for  there 
could  not  be.  There  was  but  one  side  to 
the  question.  To  talk  of  continually  shift- 
ing camp  or  of  moving  up  the  mountains 
into  the  interior  was  idle,  for  not  one  of  the 
plans  could  be  carried  out  with  our  utterly 
insufficient  transportation,  and  at  that  season 
and  in  that  climate  they  would  merely  have 
resulted  in  aggravating  the  sickliness  of  the 
soldiers.  It  was  deemed  best  to  make  some 
record  of  our  opinion,  in  the  shape  of  a  letter 
or  report,  which  would  show  that  to  keep 
the  army  in  Santiago  meant  its  absolute  and 
objectless  ruin,  and  that  it  should  at  once  be 
recalled.  At  first,  there  was  naturally  some 
hesitation  on  the  part  of  the  Regular  officers 
to  take  the  initiative,  for  their  entire  future 
career  might  be  sacrificed.  So  I  wrote  a 


156    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  TUB  WH/TE  HOUSE, 

letter  to  General  Shatter,  reading  over  the 
rough  draft  to  the  various  Generals  and 
adopting  their  corrections.  Before  I  had 
finished  making  these  corrections,  it  was 
determined  that  we  should  send  a  circular 
on  behalf  of  all  of  us  to  General  Shatter,  and 
when  I  returned  from  presenting  him  mine, 
I  found  this  circular  letter  already  prepared 
and  we  all  of  us  signed  it.  Both  letters  were 
made  public.  The  result  was  immediate. 
Within  three  days  the  army  was  ordered  to 
be  ready  to  sail  for  home.  As  soon  as  it 
was  known  that  we  were  to  sail  for  home  the 
spirits  of  the  men  changed  for  the  better. 
In  my  regiment  the  officers  began  to  plan 
methods  of  drilling  the  men  on  horseback, 
so  as  to  fit  them  for  use  against  the  Spanish 
cavalry,  if  we  should  go  against  Havana  in 
December.  We  had,  all  of  us,  eyed  the  cap- 
tured Spanish  cavalry  with  particular  interest. 
The  men  were  small,  and  the  horses,  though 
well  trained  and  well  built,  were  diminutive 
ponies,  very  much  smaller  than  cow  ponies. 
We  were  certain  that  if  we  ever  got  a  chance 
to  try  shock  tactics  against  them  they  would 
go  down  like  ninepins,  provided  only  that 
our  men  could  be  trained  to  charge  in  any 
kind  of  line,  and  we  made  up  our  minds  to 
devote  our  time  to  this.  Dismounted  work 
with  the  rifle  we  already  felt  thoroughly 
competent  to  perform." 


THE  ROUND  ROBIN.  157 

Before  the  date  of  the  Round  Robin  letter, 
Spain  had  awakened  to  the  folly  of  continu- 
ing the  war.  Her  fleets  had  been  captured 
or  destroyed  and  the  history  of  her  land  oper- 
ations was  one  series  of  defeats.  Through 
the  French  Ambassador,  she  asked  President 
McKinley,  July  26,  to  name  the  terms  upon 
which  the  United  States  would  grant  peace. 
The  reply  was  that  Spain  must  immediately 
yield  all  claims  to  sovereignty  in  Cuba,  cede 
Porto  Rico,  but  not  Cuba,  to  the  United 
States,  which  would  hold  Manila  City  and 
Bay  pending  the  settlement  by  Commis- 
sioners of  the  future  disposition  of  the  Phil- 
ippines, and  the  cession  of  an  island  in  the 
Ladrones.  These  terms  were  accepted,  and 
the  protocol  providing  for  peace  between 
the  two  countries  was  signed  in  Washing- 
ton, August  12,  1898. 

The  war  had  lasted  1 14  days,  and  the  con- 
quest of  Spain  was  decisive  and  complete.  As 
we  have  stated,  there  never  was  a  juster  war 
nor  one  more  popular  throughout  the  United 
States.  It  was  unselfish  and  solely  in  the 
interests  of  humanity.  Cuba  could  have 
fallen  like  ripe  fruit  into  our  lap,  but  we  had 
disavowed  all  such  purpose,  and  so  soon  as 
it  was  safe  to  do  so,  our  flag  was  hauled  down 
and  that  of  Cuba  took  its  place.  Her  future 
is  now  in  her  own  hands  and  she  certainly 
has  the  best  wishes  of  all  peoples  for  her 
prosperity  and  happiness. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

GOVERNOR  OF  THE   EMPIRE  STATE. 

THE  war  with  Spain  was  over,  and  another 
era  in  the  life  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  came 
to  him.  He  held  no  political  office,  but  as 
Colonel  of  the  famous  Rough  Riders,  he 
filled  a  large  space  in  the  eye  of  the  public. 
He  had  demonstrated  his  moral  courage,  his 
brilliant  ability  and  his  uncompromising  op- 
position toward  all  that  was  wrong,  unpatri- 
otic and  contrary  to  the  best  principles  of 
government.  Moreover,  there  was  no  ques- 
tioning his  popularity  with  his  countrymen. 
He  was  a  consistent  Republican  and  must 
certainly  be  "  available  "  for  some  high  office. 

Politics  in  New  York  were  in  a  mixed 
condition.  There  was  much  dissatisfaction, 
among  the  supporters  of  Governor  Black. 
The  masses  of  people  then,  as  more  than 
one  since,  felt  that  they  were  too  much 
under  the  rule  of  bosses  and  they  were  rest- 
less to  the  edge  of  revolt.  It  is  natural  that 
intelligent  men  should  be  disgusted  over  the 
fact  that  one,  or  two,  or  a  few  more  directed 
their  political  destinies,  distributed  patron- 
158 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  EMPIRE  STATE.         150 

age  and  controlled  the  policy  of  one  of  ths 
mighty  parties  of  the  country.  It  was  in  the 
air  that  unless  something  more  than  usual 
was  done,  the  Democrats  would  make  a 
clean  sweep  at  the  polls.  The  only  means 
of  averting  an  overthrow  was  to  nominate  a 
man  whose  personality  would  draw  the 
needed  number  of  votes  to  him.  Instinct- 
ively, thousands  turned  to  Roosevelt.  He 
was  the  one  to  awaken  unbounded  enthusi- 
asm, to  carry  all  before  him  by  a  whirlwind 
campaign,  and  to  bring  success  with  red  fire, 
the  booming  of  cannon  and  with  hurrahs 
that  would  split  the  skies.  Unless  such  a 
canvas  was  carried  through  with  an  irre- 
strainable  rush,  defeat  was  as  certain  as  the 
rising  of  the  sun. 

To  none  was  the  situation  clearer  than  to 
the  Independent  wing  of  the  Republican 
party.  Its  members  were  dead  against  the 
chief  boss  of  the  State,  and  believed  that 
with  such  an  ideal  candidate  as  Roosevelt 
they  could  bring  about  his  overthrow  and 
drive  him  out  of  business  in  the  Empire 
State.  Their  plan  was  to  nominate  Roose- 
velt, and  with  the  powerful  support  he  was 
sure  to  have,  they  believed  the  regulars 
would  be  forced  into  accepting  him  as  their 
candidate.  Thus,  in  the  event  of  success, 
which  seemed  assured,  the  new  Governor 
would  take  his  seat  unhampered  by  any 


160    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

pledges.  Still  further,  the  indorsement  of 
the  Independent  candidate  for  Governor, 
would  leave  the  remainder  of  the  Republi- 
can ticket  with  only  the  strict  party  vote  be- 
hind it.  It  must  follow  that  a  large  number 
of  the  "  machine"  nominees  would  be  swept 
under  and  the  machine  itself  come  pretty 
close  to  a  smashup.  Could  a  finer  opportu- 
nity be  offered  Roosevelt  for  a  fight  against 
graft  and  corruption  in  high  places  ? 

Negotiations  were  opened  with  him,  while 
he  was  in  camp  with  his  men  at  Montauk 
Point.  In  the  latter  part  of  September,  the 
Independent  leaders  publicly  stated  that 
Roosevelt  approved  the  plan,  with  the  reser- 
vation that  if  it  "should  so  far  fail  that  he 
should  not  receive  the  Republican  nomina- 
tion, he  must  then  be  free  to  accept  or  de- 
cline the  Independent  nomination."  The 
situation  became  so  peculiar  that  he  notified 
them  that  it  was  impossible  and  he  withdrew 
from  further  negotiations. 

The  explanation  as  given  by  Roosevelt 
was  that  at  the  time  the  Independents  made 
their  proposition,  he  did  not  understand 
that  it  involved  the  desertion  of  the  fortunes 
of  any  candidates  who  might  be  associated 
with  him  on  the  Republican  State  ticket. 
He  explained  his  position  in  these  words  : 

"The  Independent  nomination  has  not 
been  formally  offered  me,  but  I  am  now  re- 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  EMPIRE  STATE.         161 

ceiving  so  many  questions  as  to  my  inten- 
tions in  this  matter  that  I  am  not  willing  to 
wait  longer. 

"  My  name  will  probably  be  presented  to 
the  Republican  State  Convention  at  Sara- 
toga on  the  27th.  If  I  am  nominated,  then 
it  will  be  on  the  same  ticket  with  those  who 
are  named  for  the  other  State  offices.  The 
Republican  party  will  also  have  Congres- 
sional and  legislative  tickets  in  the  field. 
National  issues  are  paramount  this  year  ; 
very  few  municipal  officers  are  to  be  elected. 
The  candidates  will  be  my  associates  in  the 
general  effort  to  elect  a  Republican  Governor, 
Republican  Congressman  to  support  Presi- 
dent McKinley  and  the  cause  of  sound 
money,  and  a  Legislature  which  will  send 
to  the  Senate  a  Republican  United  States 
Senate. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  I  would  not  be  act- 
ing in  good  faith  toward  my  fellow  candidates 
if  I  permitted  my  name  to  head  a  ticket  de- 
signed for  their  overthrow ;  a  ticket,  more- 
over, which  cannot  be  put  up  because  of 
objections  to  the  character  or  fitness  of  any 
candidates,  inasmuch  as  no  candidates  have 
yet  been  nominated. 

"I  write  this  with  great  reluctance,  for  I 

wish  the  support  of  every  Independent.     It 

elected  Governor,  I  would  strive  to  serve 

the  State  as  a  whole,  and  to  serve  my  party 

xx 


162  FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

by  helping  to  serve  the  State.  I  should 
greatly  like  the  aid  of  the  Independents,  and 
I  appreciate  the  importance  of  the  Inde- 
pendent vote,  but  I  cannot  accept  a  nomi- 
nation on  terms  that  would  make  me  dis- 
loyal to  the  principles  for  which  I  stand,  or 
at  the  cost  of  acting  with  what  seems  to  me 
bad  faith  toward  my  associates." 

The  result  of  the  negotations  was  that  the 
Independents  put  their  own  candidate  in 
the  field,  and  Roosevelt  became  the  regular 
Republican  nominee.  This  took  place  with- 
out exacting  any  pledge  from  him,  which 
was  all  that  the  Independents  had  demanded. 

One  commendable  feature  of  the  hurri- 
cane campaign  that  followed  was  the  agree- 
ment on  the  part  of  Roosevelt  and  the  party 
leaders,  that  "San  Juan  Hill  "  should  be  cut 
out  from  all  appeals  to  the  people  for  sup- 
port. That  their  standard-bearer  had  done 
finely  was  admitted  by  every  one,  but  he 
had  done  no  better  than  hundreds  of  others 
and  was  entitled  to  no  more  glory.  More- 
over, the  Spanish-American  war,  compared 
with  the  mighty  struggle  for  the  Union  was 
only  a  country  picnic.  There  were  a  great 
many  veterans  still  living,  and,  as  one  of 
them  remarked,  "  Often  before  breakfast,  we 
killed  more  men  than  the  whole  number  who 
lost  their  lives  in  Cuba." 

When  the  votes  were  counted  it  was  found 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  EMPIRE  STATE.         163 

that  Roosevelt  had  won  by  a  plurality  of  less 
than  20,000.  That  was  not  much  in  a  total 
of  a  million  and  a  half,  but  the  effect  was  the 
same  as  if  it  had  been  ten  times  as  great. 

Riis  happily  applies  the  term  "  Ruling  by 
the  Ten  Commandments  "  to  the  term  which 
Theodore  Roosevelt  served  as  Governor  of 
the  greatest  State  in  the  American  Union. 
The  date  of  his  first  message  was  January 
3d,  1900.  Its  clean  cut,  outspoken  and  wise 
views  on  public  questions  commanded 
general  attention.  One  of  the  most  impor- 
tant subjects  was  that  of  canals.  A  Com- 
mission had  been  at  work  for  a  long  time, 
but  its  labors  were  not  completed.  The 
Governor  appointed  a  committee,  with  Gen- 
eral Francis  V.  Greene  at  the  head,  to  make 
a  thorough  examination  of  the  whole  system. 
Many  millions  of  dollars  were  involved,  and 
the  question  is  one  which  is  still  of  vital  in- 
terest to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Empire  State, 
and  is  likely  to  be  so  for  years  to  come. 
Other  matters  of  equal  importance  that  were 
elucidated  in  the  Governor's  convincing 
fashion,  were  taxation,  the  franchise  tax,  the 
State  and  public  utilities,  modern  industrial 
conditions,  trusts,  and  labor,  while  he  recom- 
mended the  repeal  of  the  Horton  Boxing 
law. 

It  is  not  our  province  to  give  a  history  of 
Governor  Roosevelt's  administration,  which, 


164   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

it  need  not  be  said,  was  creditable  in  every 
sense.  He  grew  and  learned  fast ;  his  views 
broadened  and  the  horizon  of  his  knowl- 
edge expanded.  The  statesmanlike  expres- 
sions of  his  messages,  and  his  high-minded 
course  at  all  times,  drew  national  attention 
to  him.  The  brilliant  Vice-President  Hobart 
had  died  while  in  office,  and  the  current  set 
toward  Roosevelt  as  the  running  mate  of 
McKinley  for  a  second  term.  He  strongly 
preferred  to  serve  New  York  again  as  Gov- 
ernor. He  felt  that  he  had  a  great  work 
under  way  there,  and  yearned  to  complete 
it,  or  at  least  to  carry  it  farther  toward  com- 
pletion. But  there  was  no  resisting  the 
current,  and  he  was  enthusiastically  nom- 
inated at  the  National  Republican  Conven- 
tion in  1900.  On  July  13,  he  was  formally 
notified  of  his  nomination,  while  standing 
on  the  porch  of  his  house  at  Oyster  Bay,  the 
same  spot  where  he  stood  two  years  before, 
when  informed  that  he  had  been  chosen  by 
his  party  for  the  chief  executive  office  of 
New  York. 

It  was  decided  that  in  the  campaign  which 
followed,  President  McKinley  would  make 
no  public  addresses.  The  Vice-Presidential 
candidate  made  enough  for  both.  It  is  not 
worth  while  to  give  any  of  these  numerous 
addresses,  whose  characteristics  have  become 
familiar  to  all  our  readers.  There  was  one 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  EMPIRE  STATE.         165 

speech,  however,  which  deserves  repro- 
duction, because  it  was  non-political,  and 
upon  a  subject  of  vital  interest  to  the  whole 
country.  Furthermore,  it  was  made  in 
peculiar  circumstances. 

Governor  Roosevelt  met  William  Jennings 
Bryan  at  the  Labor  Day  picnic  in  Chicago 
on  the  3d  of  September.  Though  political 
enemies,  they  came  together  under  a  flag 
of  truce,  to  talk  of  the  progress  of  labor  and 
the  duties  of  the  citizens  as  relate  to  liberty 
and  good  government.  These  two  able 
leaders  warmly  greeted  each  other,  and  the 
thousands  of  people  who  listened  to  them, 
applauded  both  impartially.  Roosevelt  and 
Bryan  sat  side  by  side  earlier  in  the  day  on 
the  reviewing  stand,  as  the  army  of  organized 
labor  marched  past,  and  they  lunched 
together  as  guests  of  the  labor  organizations. 

To  the  eager,  listening  thousands,  who 
gathered  at  Electric  Park,  Governor  Roose- 
velt said  : 

"  We  have  exactly  the  same  right  to  regu- 
late the  conditions  ,of  life  and  work  in  fac- 
tories and  tenement  houses  that  we  have  to 
regulate  fire  escapes  and  the  like  in  other 
houses.  In .  certain  communities  the  exist- 
ence of  a  thoroughly  efficient  department 
of  factory  inspection  is  just  as  essential  as 
the  establishment  of  a  fire  department. 
How  far  we  shall  go  in  regulating  the  hours 


166    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

of  labor,  or  the  liabilities  of  employers,  is 
a  matter  of  expediency,  and  each  case  must 
be  determined  on  its  own  merits,  exactly 
as  it  is  a  matter  of  expediency  to  determine 
what  so-called  '  public  utilities '  the  com- 
munity itself  shall  own,  and  what  ones  it 
shall  leave  to  private  or  corporate  owner- 
ship, securing-  to  itself  merely  the  right  to 
regulate.  Sometimes  one  course  is  expedi- 
ent, sometimes  the  other. 

"In  my  own  State  during  the  last  half 
dozen  years  we  have  made  a  number  of  no- 
table strides  in  labor  legislation,  and,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  the  laws  have  worked 
well.  This  is,  of  course,  partly  because  we 
have  not  tried  to  do  too  much  and  have  pro- 
ceeded cautiously,  feeling  our  way  ;  and, 
while  always  advancing,  and  taking  each  step 
in  advance  only  when  we  were  satisfied  that 
the  step  already  taken  was  in  the  right  direc- 
tion. To  invite  reaction  by  unregulated  zeal 
is  never  wise,  and  is  sometimes  fatal. 

"  In  New  York  our  action  has  been  along 
two  lines.  In  the  first  place  we  determined 
that  as  an  employer  of  labor  the  State  should 
set  a  good  example  to  other  employers.  We 
do  not  intend  to  permit  the  people's  money 
to  be  squandered  or  to  tolerate  any  work 
that  is  not  the  best.  But  we  think  that  while 
rigidly  insisting  upon  good  work,  we  should 
see  that  there  is  fair  play  in  return.  Ac- 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  EMPIRE  STATE.         167 

cordingly,  we  have  adopted  an  eight-hour 
law  for  the  State  employees  and  for  all  con- 
tractors who  do  State  work,  and  we  have 
also  adopted  a  law  requiring  that  the  fair 
market  rate  of  wages  shall  be  given.  I  am 
glad  to  say  that  both  measures  have  so  far, 
on  the  whole,  worked  well.  Of  course, 
there  have  been  individual  difficulties, 
mostly  where  the  work  is  intermittent,  as, 
for  instance,  among  lock-tenders  on  the 
canals,  where  it  is  very  difficult  to  define 
what  eight  hours'  work  means.  But  on  the 
whole,  the  result  has  been  good.  The  prac- 
tical experiment  of  working  men  for  eight 
hours  has  been  advantageous  to  the  State. 
Poor  work  is  always  dear,  whether  poorly 
paid  or  not,  and  good  work  is  always  well 
worth  having  ;  and  it  is  a  mere  question  of 
expediency,  aside  even  from  the  question  of 
humanity,  we  find  that  we  can  obtain  the 
best  work  by  paying  fair  wages  and  permit- 
ting the  work  to  go  on  only  for  a  reasonable 
time. 

"  The  other  side  of  our  labor  legislation 
has  been  that  affecting  the  wage  workers 
who  do  not  work  for  the  State.  Here  we 
have  acted  in  three  different  ways.  Through 
the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  through  the 
Board  of  Mediation  and  Arbitration,  and 
through  the  Department  of  Factory  In- 
spection, 


^68   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

"  During  the  last  two  years  the  Board  of 
Mediation  and  Arbitration  has  been  especi- 
ally successful.  Not  only  have  they  suc- 
ceeded in  settling  many  strikes  after  they 
were  started,  but  they  have  succeeded  in 
preventing  a  much  larger  number  of  strikes 
before  they  got  fairly  under  way.  Where 
possible,  it  is  always  better  to  mediate  be- 
fore the  strike  begins  than  to  try  to  arbitrate 
when  the  fight  is  on  and  both  sides  have 
grown  stubborn  and  bitter. 

*'  The  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  has  done 
more  than  merely  gather  the  statistics  ;  for 
by  keeping  in  close  touch  with  all  the  leading 
labor  interests  it  has  kept  them  informed 
on  countless  matters  that  were  really  of  vital 
concern  to  them.  Incidentally,  one  pleasing 
feature  of  the  work  of  this  bureau  has  been 
the  steady  upward  tendency  shown  during 
the  last  four  years  both  in  amount  of  wages 
received  and  in  the  quantity  and  steadiness 
of  employment.  No  other  man  has  been 
benefited  so  much  as  the  wage-worker  by 
the  growth  in  prosperity  during  these  years. 

"Work  in  itself,  so  far  from  being  any 
hardship,  is  a  great  blessing,  provided,  al- 
ways, it  is  carried  on  under  conditions  which 
preserve  a  man's  self-respect  and  which 
allow  him  to  develop  his  own  character  and 
rear  his  children  so  that  he  and  they,  as  well 
as  the  whole  community  of  which  he  and 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  EMPIRE  STATE.         Igg 

they  are  part,  may  steadily  move  onward  and 
upward.  The  idler,  rich  or  poor,  is  at  best 
a  useless  and  is  generally  a  noxious  member 
of  the  community.  To  whom  much  has 
been  given,  from  him  much  is  rightfully  ex- 
pected, and  a  heavy  burden  of  responsibility 
rests  upon  the  man  of  means  to  justify  by  his 
actions  the  social  conditions  which  have  ren- 
dered it  possible  for  him  or  his  forefathers  to 
accumulate  and  to  keep  the  property  he 
enjoys.  He  is  not  to  be  excused  if  he  does 
not  render  full  measure  of  service  to  the 
State  and  to  the  community  at  large.  There 
are  many  ways  in  which  this  service  can  be 
rendered  ;  in  art,  in  literature,  in  philan- 
thropy ;  as  a  statesman,  as  a  soldier  ;  but  in 
some  way  he  is  in  honor  bound  to  render 
it  ;  so  that  benefit  may  accrue  to  his  breth- 
ren who  have  been  less  favored  by  fortune 
than  he  has  been.  In  short,  he  must  work, 
and  work  not  only  for  himself,  but  for 
others.  If  he  does  not  work,  he  fails  not 
only  in  his  duty  to  the  rest  of  the  com- 
munity, but  he  fails  signally  in  his  duty  to 
himself.  There  is  no  need  of  envying  the 
idle.  Ordinarily,  we  can  afford  to  treat  them 
with  impatient  contempt ;  for  when  they 
fail  to  do  their  duty,  they  fail  to  get  from 
life  the  highest  and  keenest  pleasures  that 
life  can  give. 

"  Before  us  loom  industrial  problems,  vast 


170   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

in  their  importance  and  their  complexity. 
The  last  half  century  has  been  one  of  extraor- 
dinary social  and  industrial  development. 
The  changes  have  been  far-reaching  ;  some 
of  them  for  good  and  some  of  them  for  evil. 
It  is  not  given  to  the  wisest  of  us  to  see  into 
the  future  with  absolute  clearness.  No  man 
can  be  certain  that  he  has  found  the  entire 
solution  of  this  infinitely  great  and  intricate 
problem,  and  yet  each  man  of  us,  if  he  would 
do  his  duty,  must  strive  manfully,  so  far  as 
in  him  lies  to  help  bring  about  that  solution. 
It  is  not  as  yet  possible  to  say  what  shall  be 
the  exact  limit  of  influence  allowed  the 
State  or  what  limit  shall  be  set  to  that  right 
of  individual  initiative  so  dear  to  the  hearts 
of  the  American  people.  All  we  can  say  is 
that  the  need  has  been  shown  on  the  one 
hand  for  action  by  the  people  in  their  col- 
lective capacity  through  the  State,  in  many 
matters  ;  that  in  other  matters  much  can  be 
done  by  associations  of  different  groups  of 
individuals,  as  in  trade-unions  and  similar 
organizations  ;  and  that  in  other  matters  it 
remains  now  as  true  as  ever  that  final  suc- 
cess will  be  for  the  man  who  trusts  in  the 
struggle  only  to  his  cool  head,  his  brave 
heart,  and  his  strong  right  arm.  There  are 
spheres  in  which  the  State  can  properly  act, 
and  spheres  in  which  a  comparatively  free 
field  must  be  given  to  individual  initiative. 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  EMPIRE  StATE.        tf\ 

"  Though  conditions  of  life  have  grown  so 
puzzling  in  their  complexity,  though  the 
changes  have  been  so  vast,  yet  we  remain 
absolutely  sure  of  one  thing  :  that  now,  as 
ever  in  the  past,  and  as  it  ever  will  be  in  the 
future,  there  can  be  no  substitute  for  the 
elemental  virtues,  for  the  elemental  qualities 
to  which  we  allude  when  we  speak  of  a  man 
as  not  only  a  good  man,  but  as  emphatically 
a  man.  We  can  build  up  the  standard  of 
individual  citizenship  and  individual  well- 
being,  we  can  raise  the  national  standard  and 
make  it  what  it  can  and  shall  be  made,  only 
by  each  of  us  steadfastly  keeping  in  mind 
that  there  can  be  no  substitute  for  the  world- 
old,  humdrum,  common-place  qualities  of 
truth,  justice  and  courage,  thrift,  industry, 
common-sense  and  genuine  sympathy  with 
and  fellow-feeling  for  others." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

VICE-PRESIDENT   OF  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

THERE  were  nine  presidential  tickets  in 
the  field  in  1900,  but  the  only  real  contest, 
lay,  of  course,  between  the  Democrats  and 
Republicans.  William  Jennings  Bryan  and 
Adlai  Stevenson  were  the  candidates  of  the 
former,  and  William  McKinley  and  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt  of  the  latter.  The  Repub- 
lican ticket  received  7,207,923,  and  the 
Democratic  6,358,133  popular  votes,  or  292 
Electoral  to  155  votes.  The  Republican 
plurality  was  849,790. 

Probably  the  most  ornamental  office  in  the 
gift  of  the  American  people  is  that  of  Vice- 
President.  About  all  that  dignitary  has  to 
do  is  to  preside  over  the  sessions  of  the 
United  States  Senate.  If  the  vote  upon 
some  measure  happens  to  be  a  tie,  it  is  his 
province  to  cast  the  deciding  vote.  As  a 
rule,  the  President  relies  wholly,  or  nearly 
so,  upon  his  cabinet  for  counsel.  Now  and 
then  he  consults  the  leaders  of  his  party  and 
certain  influential  members  of  Congress,  but 
more  often  than  otherwise,  the  Vice-Presi- 
172 


VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.    If3 

dent  is  left  very  much  to  himself.  McKinley 
was  the  first  Chief  Executive  to  break  this 
rule.  Vice-President  G.  A.  Hobart  was  one 
of  the  ablest  men  who  ever  held  that  office, 
and  he  and  his  chief  became  intimate  friends. 
The  President  consulted  Hobart  on  the 
most  important  measures,  and  was  largely 
influenced  by  his  counsel.  This  influence 
was  always  exerted  in  the  right  direction, 
and  much  of  the  credit  of  McKinley's  first 
administration  was  due  to  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent's wisdom,  quick  perception  and  admi- 
rable tact. 

McKinley  was  an  excellent  judge  of  men, 
and  he  had  long  recognized  the  striking 
ability  of  Roosevelt.  The  President  was 
calmer,  more  conservative  and  self-restrained 
than  his  assistant,  but  he  held  his  integrity, 
courage  and  statesmanship  in  high  admira- 
tion. But  for  the  woful  tragedy  which  soon 
shocked  the  country,  the  President  doubt- 
less would  have  come  to  lean  upon  him  as 
much  as  he  had  leaned  upon  his  predecessor. 
Roosevelt,  on  his  part,  admired  and  loved 
his  chief,  and  one  of  the  finest  tributes  to 
that  great  man  was  delivered  by  him. . 

Although  nominally  there  was  little  for 
him  to  do,  the  Vice-President  was  a  man 
who  could  never  remain  idle.  He  spent 
his  vacation  time  mostly  on  his  ranch  in  the 
West,  or  in  hunting,  varied  by  addresses  in  dif- 


174    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

f  erent  parts  of  the  country.  Some  of  the  more 
instructive  of  these  were  given  during  the 
months  that  he  was  Vice-President.  We 
have  selected  two  of  the  most  characteristic. 
That  which  immediately  follows  was  de- 
livered before  the  Hamilton  Club  of  Chicago, 
April  15, 1899.  The  subject  was  "  The  Stren- 
uous Life."  As  has  been  said,  it  is  in  reality  a 
part  of  Roosevelt  s  own  biography,  and  de- 
serves to  be  read,  studied  and  remembered 
by  every  young  man  in  the  country.  One 
minor  result  of  this  remarkable  speech  has 
been  to  make  the  qualifying  word  "  strenu- 
ous" more  generally  used  than  any  other 
word  in  our  language. 

"  Gentlemen  :  In  speaking  to  you,  men  ot 
the  greatest  city  in  the  West,  men  of  the 
State  which  gave  to  the  country  Lincoln  and 
Grant,  men  who  pre-eminently  and  dis- 
tinctly embody  all  that  is  most  American  in 
the  American  character,  I  wish  to  preach, 
not  the  doctrine  of  ignoble  ease,  but  the 
doctrine  of  strenuous  life;  the  life  of  toil  and 
effort;  of  labor  and  strife;  to  preach  that 
highest  form  of  success  which  comes,  not  to 
the  man  who  desires  more  easy  peace,  but  to 
the  man  who  does  not  shrink  from  danger, 
from  hardship  or  from  bitter  toil,  and  who 
out  of  these  wins  the  splendid  ultimate 
triumph. 

"  A  lifs  of  ignoble  ease,  a  life  of  that  peacq 


VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.    175 

which  springs  merely  from  lack  either  of  de- 
sire or  of  power  to  strive  after  great  things, 
is  as  little  worthy  of  a  nation  as  of  an  indi- 
vidual. I  ask  only  that  what  every  self- 
respecting  American  demands  from  himself, 
and  from  his  sons,  shall  be  demanded  of  the 
American  nation  as  whole.  Who  among 
you  would  teach  your  boys  that  ease,  that 
peace  is  to  be  the  first  consideration  in 
their  eyes — to  be  the  ultimate  goal  after 
which  they  strive.  You  men  of  Chicago 
have  made  this  city  great,  you  men  of  Illinois 
have  done  your  share,  and  more  than  your 
share,  in  making  America  great,  because  you 
neither  preach  nor  practice  such  a  doctrine. 
You  work  yourselves,  and  you  bring  up  your 
sons  to  work.  If  you  are  rich,  and  are  worth 
your  salt,  you  will  teach  your  sons  that 
though  they  may  have  leisure,  it  is  not  to  be 
spent  in  idleness;  for  wisely  used  leisure 
merely  means  that  those  who  possess  it, 
being  free  from  the  necessity  of  working  for 
their  livelihood,  are  all  the  more  bound  to 
carry  on  some  kind  of  non-remunerative 
work  in  science,  in  letters,  in  art,  in  explora- 
tion, in  historical  research — work  of  the  type 
we  most  need  in  this  country,  the  successful 
carrying  out  of  which  reflects  most  honor 
upon  the  nation.  We  do  not  admire  the 
man  of  timid  peace.  We  admire  the  man 
who  embodies  victorious  effort;  the  man 


176    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

who  never  wrongs  his  neighbors  ;  who  is 
prompt  to  help  a  friend;  but  who  has  those 
virile  qualities  necessary  to  win  in  the  stern 
strife  of  actual  life.  It  is  hard  to  fail;  but  it 
is  worse  never  to  have  tried  to  succeed.  In 
this  life  \ve  get  nothing  save  by  effort.  Free- 
dom from  effort  in  the  present,  merely  means 
that  there  has  been  stored  up  effort  in  the 
past.  A  man  can  be  freed  from  the  neces- 
sity of  work  only  by  the  fact  that  he  or  his 
fathers  before  him  have  worked  to  good 
purpose.  If  the  freedom  thus  purchased  is 
used  aright,  and  the  man  still  does  actual 
work,  though  of  a  different  kind,  whether  as 
a  writer  or  a  general,  whether  in  the  field  of 
politics  or  in  the  field  of  exploration  and 
adventure,  he  shows  he  deserves  his  good 
fortune.  But  if  he  treats  this  period  of  free- 
dom from  the  need  of  actual  labor,  as  a 
period  not  of  preparation,  but  of  mere  enjoy- 
ment, even  though  perhaps  not  of  vicious 
enjoyment,  he  shows  that  he  is  simply  a 
cumberer  of  the  earth's  surface;  and  he 
surely  unfits  himself  to  hold  his  own  with 
his  fellows,  if  the  need  to  do  so  should  again 
arise.  A  mere  life  of  ease  is  not  in  the  end 
a  very  satisfactory  life ;  and,  above  all,  it  is 
a  life  which  ultimately  unfits  those  who 
follow  it  for  serious  work  in  the  world. 

"  As  it  is  with  the  individual,  so  it  is  with 
the  nation.     It  is  a  base  untruth  to  say  that 


VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.    177 

happy  is  the  nation  that  has  no  history. 
Thrice  happy  is  the  nation  that  has  a  glori- 
ous history.  Far  better  it  is  to  dare  mighty 
things,  to  win  glorious  triumphs,  even  though 
checkered  by  failure,  than  to  take  rank  with 
those  poor  spirits  who  neither  enjoy  much 
nor  suffer  much,  because  they  live  in  the 
gray  twilight  that  knows  neither  victory  nor 
defeat.  If  in  1861  the  men  who  loved  the 
Union  had  believed  that  peace  was  the  end 
of  all  things,  and  war  and  strife  the  worst  of 
all  things,  and  had  acted  up  to  their  belief,  we 
would  have  saved  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  lives;  we  would  have  saved  hundreds 
of  millions  of  dollars.  Moreover,  besides 
saving  all  the  blood  and  treasure  we  then  lav- 
ished, we  would  have  prevented  the  heart- 
break of  many  women,  the  dissolution  of 
many  homes;  and  we  would  have  spared  the 
country  those  months  of  gloom  and  shame, 
when  it  seemed  as  if  our  armies  marched 
only  to  defeat.  We  could  have  avoided  all 
this  suffering  simply  by  shrinking  from 
strife.  And  if  we  had  thus  avoided  it,  we 
would  have  shown  that  we  were  weaklings, 
and  that  we  were  unfit  to  stand  among  the 
great  nations  of  the  earth.  Thank  God  for 
the  iron  in  the  blood  of  our  fathers,  the  men 
who  upheld  the  wisdom  of  Lincoln  and  bore 
sword  or  rifle  in  the  armies  of  Grant  !  Let 
us,  the  children  of  the  men  who  proved  them 


178   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

selves  equal  to  the  mighty  days — let  us,  the 
children  of  the  men  who  carried  the  great 
Civil  War  to  a  triumphant  conclusion,  praise 
the  God  of  our  fathers  that  the  ignoble  coun- 
sels of  peace  were  rejected;  that  the  suffer- 
ing and  loss,  the  blackness  of  sorrow  and 
despair,  were  unflinchingly  faced,  and  the 
years  of  strife  endured ;  for  in  the  end  the 
slave  was  freed,  the  Union  restored,  and 
the  mighty  American  Republic  placed 
once  more  as  a  helmeted  queen  among 
nations. 

"  We  of  this-  generation  do  not  have  to 
face  a  task  such  as  that  our  fathers  faced,  but 
we  have  our  tasks,  and  woe  to  us  if  we  fail 
to  perform  them  !  We  can  not,  if  we  would, 
play  the  part  of  China,  and  be  content  to  rot 
by  inches  in  ignoble  ease  within  our  bor- 
ders, taking  no  interest  in  what  goes  on  be- 
yond them;  sunk  in  a  scrambling  commer- 
cialism; heedless  of  the  higher  life,  the  life 
of  aspiration,  of  toil  and  risk;  busying  our- 
selves only  with  the  wants  of  our  bodies  for 
the  day;  until  suddenly  we  should  find,  be- 
yond a  shadow  of  question,  what  China  has 
already  found,  that  in  this  world  the  nation 
that  has  trained  itself  to  a  career  of  unwar- 
like  and  isolated  ease  is  bound  in  the  end  to 
go  down  before  other  nations  which  have 
not  lost  the  manly  and  adventurous  quali- 
ties. If  we  are  to  be  a  really  great  people, 


VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.    179 

we  must  strive  in  good  faith  to  play  a  great 
part  in  the  world.  We  can  not  avoid  meet- 
ing great  issues.  All  that  we  can  determine 
for  ourselves  is,  whether  we  shall  meet  them 
well  or  ill.  Last  year  we  could  not  help 
being  brought  face  to  face  with  the  problem 
of  war  with  Spain.  All  we  could  decide  was 
whether  we  should  shrink  like  cowards  from 
the  contest,  or  enter  into  it  as  beseemed  a 
brave  and  high-spirited  people;  and,  once 
in,  whether  failure  or  success  should  crown 
our  banners.  So  it  is  now.  We  can  not 
avoid  the  responsibilities  that  confront  us  in 
Hawaii,  Cuba,  Porto  Rico  and  the  Philip- 
pines. All  we  can  decide  is  whether  we 
shall  meet  them  in  a  way  that  will  redound 
to  the  national  credit,  or  whether  we  shall 
make  our  dealings  with  these  new  problems 
a  dark  and  shameful  page  in  our  history. 
To  refuse  to  deal  with  them  at  all  merely 
amounts  to  dealing  with  them  badly.  We 
have  a  given  problem  to  solve.  If  we  under- 
take the  solution,  there  is,  of  course,  always 
danger  that  we  may  not  solve  it  aright;  but 
to  refuse  to  undertake  the  solution  simply  ren- 
ders it  certain  that  we  can  not  possibly  solve 
it  aright.  The  timid  man,  the  lazy  man,  the 
man  who  distrusts  his  country,  the  over- 
civilized  man  who  has  lost  the  great  right- 
ing, masterful  virtues,  the  ignorant  man  and 
the  man  of  dull  mind,  whose  §Qul  is  incapable 


180    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

of  feeling  the  mighty  lift  that  thrills.  Stern 
with  empires  in  their  brains — all  these  of 
course  shrink  from  seeing  the  nation  under- 
take its  new  duties;  shrink  from  seeing  us 
build  a  navy  and  army  adequate  to  cur 
needs;  shrink  from  seeing  us  do  our  share 
of  the  world's  work,  by  bringing  order  out  of 
chaos  in  the  great,  fair  tropic  islands  from 
which  the  valor  of  our  soldiers  and  sailors  has 
driven  the  Spanish  flag.  .  These  are  the  men 
who  fear  the  strenuous  life,  who  fear  the 
only  national  life  which  is  really  worth  lead- 
ing. They  believe  in  that  cloistered  life  which 
saps  the  hardy  virtues  in  a  nation,  as  it  saps 
them  in  the  individual;  or  else  they  are 
wedded  to  that  base  spirit  of  gain  and  greed 
which  recognizes  in  commercialism  the 
be-all  and  end-all  of  a  national  life,  instead 
of  realizing  that,  though  an  indispensable 
element,  it  is  after  all  but  one  of  the  many 
elements  that  go  to  make  up  true  national 
greatness.  No  country  can  long  endure  if 
its  foundations  are  not  laid  deep  in  the 
material  prosperity  which  comes  from  thrift, 
from  business  energy  and  enterprise,  from 
hard,  unsparing  effort  in  the  fields  of  indus- 
trial activity;  but  neither  was  any  nation 
ever  yet  truly  great  if  it  relied  upon  material 
prosperity  alone.  All  honor  must  be  paid 
to  the  architects  of  our  material  prosperity; 
to  the  great  captains  of  industry  who  have 


VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.    181 

built  our  factories  and  our  railroads;  to 
the  strong  men  who  toil  for  wealth  with 
brain  or  hand;  for  great  is  the  debt  of  the 
nation  to  those  and  their  kind.  But  our 
debt  is  yet  greater  to  the  men  whose  highest 
type  is  to  be  found  in  a  statesman  like 
Lincoln,  a  soldier  like  Grant.  They  showed 
by  their  lives  that  they  recognized  the  law 
of  work,  the  law  of  strife;  they  toiled  to  win 
a  competence  for  themselves,  and  those  de- 
pendent upon  them;  but  they  recognized 
that  there  were  yet  other  and  even  loftier 
duties— duties  to  the  nation  and  duties  to  the 
race. 

"  We  can  not  sit  huddled  within  our  own 
borders  and  avow  ourselves  merely  an  as- 
semblage of  well-to-do  hucksters  who  care 
nothing  for  what  happens  beyond.  Such  a 
policy  would  defeat  even  its  own  ends; 
for  as  the  nations  grow  to  have  ever  wider 
and  wider  interests  and  are  brought  into 
closer  and  closer  contact,  if  we  are  to  hold 
our  own  in  the  struggle  for  naval  and  com- 
mercial supremacy,  we  must  build  up  our 
power  within  our  own  borders.  We  must 
build  the  Isthmian  canal,  and  we  must  grasp 
the  points  of  vantage  which  will  enable  us 
to  have  our  say  in  deciding  the  destiny  of 
the  oceans  of  the  east  and  the  west. 

"  So  much  for  the  commercial  side.  From 
the  standpoint  of  international  honor,  the 


182    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

argument  is  even  stronger.  The  guns  that 
thundered  off  Manila  and  Santiago  left  us 
echoes  of  glory,  but  they  also  left  us  a 
legacy  of  duty.  If  we  drove  out  a  med- 
iaeval tyranny  to  make  room  for  savage 
anarchy,  we  had  better  not  have  begun  the 
task  at  all.  It  is  worse  than  idle  to  say  that 
we  have  no  duty  to  perform  and  we  can  now 
leave  to  their  fates  the  islands  we  have  con- 
quered. Such  a  course  would  be  the  course 
of  infamy.  It  would  be  followed  at  once  by 
utter  chaos  in  the  wretched  islands  them- 
selves. Some  stronger,  manlier  power  would 
have  to  step  in  and  do  the  work;  and  we 
would  have  shown  ourselves  weaklings, 
unable  to  carry  to  successful  completion  the 
labors  that  great  and  high-spirited  nations 
are  eager  to  undertake. 

"  The  work  must  be  done.  We  can  not 
escape  our  responsibility,  and  if  we  are 
worth  our  salt,  we  shall  be  glad  of  the 
chance  to  do  the  work — glad  of  the  chance 
to  show  ourselves  equal  to  one  of  the  great 
tasks  set  by  modern  civilization.  But  let  us 
not  deceive  ourselves  as  to  the  importance 
of  the  task.  Let  us  not  be  misled  by  vain- 
glory into  underestimating  the  strain  it  will 
put  on  our  powers.  Above  all,  let  us,  as  we 
value  our  self-respect,  face  the  responsibili- 
ties with  proper  seriousness,  courage  and 
high  resolve.  We  must  demand  the  high- 


VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.    183 

est  order  of  integrity  and  ability  in  our  pub- 
lic men  who  are  to  grapple  with  those  new 
problems.  We  must  hold  to  a  rigid  ac- 
countability those  public  servants  who  show 
unfaithfulness  to  the  interests  of  the  nation 
or  inability  to  rise  to  the  high  level  of  the 
new  demands  upon  our  strength  and  our  re- 
sources. 

"  Of  course,  we  must  remember  not  to 
judge  any  public  servant  by  any  one  act,  and 
especially  should  we  beware  of  attacking  the,, 
men  who  are  merely  the  occasions  and  not 
the  causes  of  disaster.  Let  me  illustrate 
what  I  mean  by  the  army  and  the  navy.  If 
twenty  years  ago  we  had  gone  to  war,  we 
should  have  found  the  navy  as  absolutely 
unprepared  as  the  army.  At  that  time  our 
ships  could  not  have  encountered  with  suc- 
cess the  fleets  of  Spain  any  more  than  now- 
adays we  can  put  untrained  soldiers,  no 
matter  how  brave,  who  are  armed  with 
archaic  black  powder  weapons,  against  well- 
drilled  Regulars  armed  with  the  highest 
type  of  modern  repeating  rifle.  But  in  the 
early  '8o's  the  attention  of  the  nation  became 
directed  to  our  naval  needs.  Congress  most 
wisely  made  a  series  of  appropriations  to 
build  up  a  new  navy,  and  under  a  succession 
of  able  and  patriotic  secretaries,  of  both 
political  parties,  the  navy  was  gradually 
built  up,  until  its  material  became  equal  to 


;(84   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

its  splendid  personnel,  with  the  result  that 
last  summer  it  leaped  to  its  proper  place  as 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  formidable 
fighting  navies  in  the  entire  world.  We 
rightly  pay  all  honor  to  the  men  controlling 
the  navy  at  the  time  it  won  these  great 
deeds,  honor  to  Secretary  Long  and  Admiral 
Dewey,  to  the  Captains  who  handled  the 
ships  in  action,  to  the  daring  lieutenants  who 
braved  death  in  the  smaller  craft,  and  to  the 
heads  of  bureaus  at  Washington  who  saw 
that  the  ships  were  so  commanded,  so  armed, 
so  equipped,  so  well  engined,  as  to  insure 
the  best  results.  But  let  us  keep  ever  in 
mind  that  all  of  this  would  not  have  availed 
if  it  had  not  been  for  the  wisdom  of  the  men 
who  during  the  preceding  fifteen  years  had 
built  up  the  navy.  Keep  in  mind  the  Sec- 
retaries of  the  Navy  during  those  years; 
keep  in  mind  the  Senators  and  Congress- 
men who  by  their  votes  gave  the  money 
necessary  to  build  and  to  armor  the  ships, 
to  construct  the  great  guns,  and  to  train  the 
crews  ;  remember  also  who  actually  did 
build  the  ships,  the  armor  and  the  guns  ; 
and  remember  the  Admirals  and  the  Cap- 
tains who  handled  battleships,  cruisers  and 
torpedo  boats  on  the  high  seas,  alone  and  in 
squadrons,  developing  the  seamanship,  the 
gunnery  and  the  power  of  acting  together, 
which  their  successors  utilized  so  gloriously 


VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.    185 

at  Manila  and  off  Santiago.  And,  gentle- 
men, remember  the  converse,  too.  Remem- 
ber that  justice  has  two  sides.  Be  just  to 
those  who  built  up  the  navy,  and  for  the 
sake  of  the  future  of  the  country,  keep  in 
mind  those  who  opposed  its  building  up. 
Read  the  Congressional  Record.  Find  out 
the  Senators  and  Congressmen  who  opposed 
the  grants  for  building  the  new  ships,  who 
opposed  the  purchase  of  armor  without 
which  the  ships  were  worthless;  who  op- 
posed any  adequate  maintenance  for  the 
navy  department,  and  strove  to  cut  down 
the  number  of  men  necessary  to  man  our 
fleets.  The  men  who  did  these  things  were 
one  and  all  working  to  bring  disaster  on  the 
country.  They  have  no  share  in  the  glory 
of  Manila,  in  the  honor  of  Santiago.  They 
have  no  cause  to  feel  proud  of  the  valor  of 
our  sea  captains,  of  the  renown  of  our  flag. 
Their  motives  may  or  may  not  have  been 
good,  but  their  acts  were  heavily  fraught 
with  evil.  They  did  ill  for  the  national 
honor;  and  we  won  in  spite  of  their  sinister 
opposition. 

11  Now,  apply  all  this  to  our  public  men  of 
to-day.  Our  army  has  never  been  built  up 
as  it  should  be  built  up.  I  shall  not  discuss 
with  an  audience  like  this  the  puerile  sug- 
gestion that  a  nation  of  seventy  millions  of 
free  men  is  in  danger  of  losing  its  liberties 


186    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

from  the  existence  of  an  army  of  one  hun- 
dred thousand  men,  three-fourths  of  whom 
will  be  employed  in  certain  foreign  islands, 
in  certain  coast  fortresses,  and  on  Indian 
reservations.  No  man  of  good  sense  and 
stout  heart  can  take  such  a  proposition  seri- 
ously. If  we  are  such  weaklings  as  the 
proposition  implies,  then  we  are  unworthy 
of  freedom  in  any  event.  To  no  body  of 
men  in  the  United  States  is  the  country  so 
much  indebted  as  to  the  splendid  officers 
and  enlisted  men  of  the  Regular  army  and 
navy;  there  is  no  body  from  which  the  coun- 
try has  less  to  fear;  and  none  of  which  it 
should  be  prouder,  or  which  it  should  be 
more  anxious  to  upbuild. 

"  Our  army  needs  complete  reorganiza- 
tion— not  merely  enlarging — and  the  reor- 
ganization can  only  come  as  the  result  of 
legislation.  A  proper  general  staff  should 
be  established,  and  the  positions  of  ord- 
nance, commissary  and  quartermaster  officers 
should  be  rilled  by  detail  from  the  line. 
Above  all,  the  army  must  be  given  the  chance 
to  exercise  in  large  bodies.  Never  again 
should  we  see,  as  we  saw  in  the  Spanish 
War,  major-generals,  in  command  of  divis- 
ions, who  had  never  before  commanded 
three  companies  together  in  the  field.  Yet 
incredible  to  relate,  the  recent  Congress  has 
showed  a  queer  inability  to  learn  some  of  the 


VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.     187 

lessons  of  the  war.  There  were  large  bodies 
of  men  in  both  branches  who  opposed  the 
declaration  of  war,  who  opposed  the  ratifica- 
tion of  peace,  who  opposed  the  upbuilding 
of  the  army,  and  who  even  opposed  the  pur- 
chase of  armor  at  a  reasonable  price  for  the 
battleships  and  cruisers,  thereby  putting  an 
absolute  stop  to  the  building  of  any  new 
fighting  ships  for  the  navy.  If  during  the 
years  to  come  any  disaster  should  befall  our 
arms,  afloat  or  ashore,  and  thereby  any  shame 
come  to  the  United  States,  remember  that 
the  blame  will  lie  upon  the  men  whose 
names  appear  upon  the  roll  calls  of  Congress 
on  the  wrong  side  of  these  great  questions. 
On  them  will  lie  the  burden  of  any  loss  of 
our  soldiers  and  sailors,  of  any  dishonor  to 
the  flag  ;  and  upon  you  and  the  people  of 
this  country  will  lie  the  blame,  if  you  do  not 
repudiate,  in  an  unmistakable  way,  what 
these  men  have  done.  The  blame  will  not 
rest  upon  the  untrained  commander  of  un- 
tried troops;  upon  the  civil  officers  of  a  de- 
partment the  organization  of  which  has  been 
left  utterly  inadequate;  or  upon  the  Admiral 
with  unsurficient  number  of  ships;  but  upon 
the  public  men  who  have  so  lamentably 
failed  in  forethought  as  to  refuse  to  remedy 
these  evils  long  in  advance,  and  upon  the 
nation  that  stands  behind  those  public  men. 
"  So  at  the  present  hour  no  small  share  of 


188    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

the  responsibility  for  the  blood  shed  in  the 
Philippines,  the  blood  of  our  brothers  and 
the  blood  of  their  wild  and  ignorant  foes, 
lies  at  the  thresholds  of  those  who  so  long 
delayed  the  adoption  of  the  treaty  of  peace, 
and  of  those  who  by  their  worse  than  foolish 
words  deliberately  invited  a  savage  people  to 
plunge  into  a  war  fraught  with  sure  disaster 
for  them  ;  a  war,  too,  in  which  our  own 
brave  men  who  follow  the  flag  must  pay  with 
their  blood  for  the  silly  mock-humanitarian- 
ism  of  the  prattlers  who  sit  at  home  in  peace. 
"The  army  and  the  navy  are  the  sword 
and  the  shield  which  this  nation  must  carry, 
if  she  is  to  do  her  duty  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth — if  she  is  not  to  stand  merely  as 
the  China  of  the  western  hemisphere.  Our 
proper  conduct  toward  the  tropic  islands  we 
have  wrested  from  Spain  is  merely  the  form 
which  our  duty  has  taken  at  the  moment. 
Of  course,  we  are  bound  to  handle  the  affairs 
of  our  own  household  well.  We  must  see 
that  there  is  civic  honesty,  civic  cleanliness, 
civic  good  sense  in  our  house  administration 
of  city,  State  and  nation.  We  must  strive 
for  honesty  in  office,  for  honesty  towards  the 
creditors  of  the  nation  and  of  the  individual ; 
for  the  widest  freedom  of  individual  initiative 
where  possible,  and  for  the  wisest  control  of 
the  individual  initiative  where  it  is  hostile  to 
the  welfare  of  the  many.  But  because  we  set 


VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.    189 

our  own  household  in  order,  we  are  not 
thereby  excused  from  playing  our  part  in 
the  great  affairs  of  the  world.  A  man's  first 
duty  is  to  his  home,  but  he  is  not  thereby 
excused  from  doing  his  duty  to  the  State  ; 
for  if  he  fails  in  this  second  duty  it  is  under 
the  penalty  of  ceasing  to  be  a  free  man.  In 
the  same  way,  while  a  nation's  first  duty  is 
within  its  own  borders,  it  is  not  thereby 
absolved  from  facing  its  duties  in  the  world 
as  a  whole  ;  and  if  it  refuses  to  do  so,  it 
merely  forfeits  its  right  to  struggle  for  a  place 
among  the  peoples  that  shape  the  destiny  of 
mankind. 

"  In  the  West  Indies  and  the  Philippines 
alike  we  are  confronted  by  most  difficult 
problems.  It  is  cowardly  to  shrink  from 
solving  them  in  the  proper  way  ;  for  solved 
they  must  be,  if  not  by  us,  then  by  some 
stronger  and  more  manful  race  ;  if  we  are 
too  weak,  too  selfish  or  too  foolish  to  solve 
them,  some  bolder  and  abler  people  must 
undertake  the  solution.  Personally  I  am 
far  too  firm  a  believer  in  the  greatness  of  my 
country  and  the  power  of  my  countrymen 
to  admit  for  one  moment  that  we  shall  ever 
be  driven  to  the  ignoble  alternative. 

"The  problems  are  different  for  the  dif- 
ferent islands.  Porto  Rico  is  not  large 
enough  to  stand  alone.  We  must  govern  it 
wisely  and  well,  primarily  in  the  interest  of 


290   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

its  own  people.  Cuba  is,  in  my  judgment, 
entitled  ultimately  to  settle  for  itself  whether 
it  shall  be  an  independent  State  or  an  in- 
tegral portion  of  the  mightiest  of  republics. 
But  until  order  and  stable  liberty  are  secured, 
we  must  remain  in  the  island  to  insure  them  ; 
and  infinite  tact,  judgment,  moderation  and 
courage  must  be  shown  by  our  military  and 
civil  representatives  in  keeping  the  island 
pacified,  in  relentlessly  stamping  out  brigand- 
age, in  protecting  all  alike,  and  yet  in  show- 
ing proper  recognition  to  the  men  who  have 
fought  for  Cuban  liberty.  The  Philippines 
offer  a  yet  graver  problem.  Their  popula- 
tion includes  half  caste  and  native  Christians, 
warlike  Moslems,  and  wild  Pagans.  Many 
of  their  people  are  utterly  unfit  for  self- 
government  and  show  no  signs  of  becoming 
fit.  Others  may  in  time  become  fit,  but  at 
present  can  only  take  part  in  self-govern- 
ment under  a  wise  supervision  at  once  firm 
and  beneficent.  We  have  driven  Spanish 
tyranny  from  the  islands.  If  we  now  let  it 
be  replaced  by  savage  anarchy,  our  work 
has  been  for  harm  and  not  for  good.  I  have 
scant  patience  with  those  who  fear  to  under- 
take the  task  of  governing  the  Philippines, 
and  who  openly  avow  that  they  do  fear  to 
undertake  it,  or  that  they  shrink  from  it 
because  of  the  expense  and  trouble  ;  but  I 
have  even  scantier  patience  with  those  who, 


VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.    19} 

make  a  pretense  of  humanitarianism  to  hide 
and  cover  their  timidity,  and  who  cant  about 
'  liberty '  and  the  '  consent  of  the  governed,' 
in  order  to  excuse  themselves  for  their  un- 
willingness to  play  the  part  of  men.  Their 
doctrines  if  carried  out  would  make  it  in- 
cumbent upon  us  to  leave  the  Apaches  of 
Arizona  to  work  out  their  own  salvation  and 
to  decline  to  interfere  in  a  single  Indian 
reservation.  Their  doctrines  condemn  your 
forefathers  and  mine  for  ever  having  settled 
in  these  United  States. 

"  England's  rule  in  India  and  Egypt  has 
been  of  great  benefit  to  England,  for  it  has 
trained  up  generations  of  men  accustomed 
to  look  at  the  larger  and  loftier  side  of  public 
life.  It  has  been  of  even  greater  benefit  to 
India  and  Egypt.  And  finally  and  most  of 
all,  it  has  advanced  the  cause  of  civilization. 
So,  if  we  do  our  duty  aright  in  the  Philip- 
pines, we  will  add  to  that  national  renown 
which  is  the  highest  and  finest  part  of 
national  life  ;  will  greatly  benefit  the  people 
of  the  Philippine  Islands  ;  and  above  all  we 
will  play  our  part  well  in  the  great  work  of 
uplifting  mankind.  But  to  do  this  work, 
keep  ever  in  mind  that  we  must  show  in  a 
very  high  degree  the  qualities  of  courage,  of 
honesty  and  of  good  judgment.  Resistance 
must  be  stamped  out.  The  first  and  all- 
important  work  to  be  done  is  to  establish 


192   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

the  supremacy  of  our  flag.  We  must  put 
down  armed  resistance  before  we  can  ac- 
complish anything  else,  and  there  should 
be  no  parleying,  no  faltering  in  dealing  with 
our  foe.  As  for  those  in  our  own  country 
who  encourage  the  foe,  we  can  afford  con- 
temptuously to  disregard  them  ;  butrit  must 
be  remembered  that  their  utterances  are 
saved  from  being  treasonable  merely  from 
the  fact  that  they  are  despicable. 

"  When  once  we  have  put  down  armed 
resistance,  when  once  our  rule  is  acknowl- 
edged, then  an  even  more  difficult  task  will 
begin,  for  then  we  must  see  to  it  that  the 
islands  are  administered  with  absolute 
honesty  and  with  good  judgment.  If  we  let 
the  public  service  of  the  islands  be  turned 
into  the  prey  of  the  spoils  politician,  we 
shall  have  begun  to  tread  the  path  which 
Spain  trod  to  her  own  destruction.  We 
must  send  out  there  only  good  and  able  men, 
chosen  for  their  fitness  and  not  because  of 
their  partizan  service,  and  these  men  must 
not  only  administer  impartial  justice  to  the 
natives  and  serve  their  own  Government  with 
honesty  and  fidelity,  but  must  show  the 
utmost  tact  and  firmness,  remembering  that 
with  such  people  as  those  with  whom  we  are 
to  deal,  weakness  is  the  greatest  of  crimes, 
and  next  to  weakness  comes  lack  of  consider 
ation  for  their  principles  and  prejudices. 


VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.    193 

"  I  preach  to  you,  then,  my  countrymen, 
that  our  country  call  not  for  the  life  of  ease, 
but  for  the  life  of  strenuous  endeavor.  The 
twentieth  century  looms  before  us  big  with 
the  fate  of  many  nations.  If  we  stand  idly  by, 
if  we  seek  merely  swollen,  slothful  ease,  and 
ignoble  peace,  if  we  shrink  from  the  hard  con- 
tests where  men  must  win  at  hazard  of  their 
lives  and  at  the  risk  of  all  they  hold  dear,  then 
the  bolder  and  stronger  peoples  will  pass  us 
by  and  will  win  for  themselves  the  domi- 
nation of  the  world.  Let  us  therefore  boldly 
face  the  life  of  strife,  resolute  to  do  our  duty 
well  and  manfully  ;  resolute  to  uphold 
righteousness  by  deed  and  by  word ;  reso- 
lute to  be  both  honest  and  brave,  to  serve 
high  ideals,  yet  to  use  practical  methods. 
Above  all,  let  us  not  shrink  from  strife, 
moral  or  physical,  within  or  without  the 
nation,  provided  we  are  certain  that  the 
strife  is  justified ;  for  it  is  only  through  strife, 
through  hard  and  dangerous  endeavor,  that 
we  shall  ultimately  win  the  goal  of  true 
national  greatness. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

STATEHOOD  AND   MANHOOD. 

ON  August  2,  1901,  the  State  of  Colorado 
celebrated  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  its 
admission  to  the  Union.  At  that  time,  Vice- 
President  Roosevelt  delivered  at  Colorado 
Springs  the  following  masterly  address  en- 
titled "  Manhood  and  Statehood  "  : 

"  This  anniversary,  which  marks  the  com- 
pletion by  Colorado  of  her  first  quarter- 
century  of  Statehood,  is  of  interest  not  only 
to  her  sisters,  the  States  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain region,  but  to  our  whole  country. 
With  the  exception  of  the  admission  to 
Statehood  of  California,  no  other  event  em- 
phasized in  such  dramatic  fashion  the  full 
meaning  of  the  growth  of  our  country  as  did 
the  incoming  of  Colorado. 

"It  is  a  law  of  our  intellectual  develop- 
ment that  the  greatest  and  most  important 
truths,  when  once  we  have  become  thor- 
oughly familiar  with  them,  often  because  of 
that  very  familiarity  grow  dim  in  our  minds. 
The  westward  spread  of  our  people  across 
this  continent  has  been  so  rapid,  and  so 

194: 


STATEHOOD  AND  MANHOOD.  195 

great  has  been  their  success  in  taming  the 
rugged  wilderness,  turning  the  gray  desert 
into  green  fertility,  and  filling  the  waste  and 
lonely  places  with  the  eager,  thronging, 
crowded  life  of  our  industrial  civilization, 
that  we  have  begun  to  accept  it  all  as  part 
of  the  order  of  nature.  Moreover,  it  now 
seems  to  us  equally  a  matter  of  course  that 
when  a  sufficient  number  of  the  citizens  of 
our  common  country  have  thus  entered  into 
and  taken  possession  of  some  great  tract  of 
empty  wilderness,  they  should  be  permitted 
to  enter  the  Union  as  a  State  on  an  absolute 
equality  with  the  older  States,  having  the 
same  right  both  to  manage  their  own  local 
affairs  as  they  deem  best,  and  to  exercise 
their  full  share  of  control  over-all  the  affairs 
of  whatever  kind  or  sort  in  which  the  nation 
is  interested  as  a  whole.  The  youngest  and 
the  oldest  States  stand  on  an  exact  level  in 
one  indissoluble  and  perpetual  Union. 

"To  us  nowadays  these  processes  seem  so 
natural  that  it  is  only  by  a  mental  wrench 
that  we  conceive  of  any  other  as  possible. 
Yet  they  are  really  wholly  modern  and  of 
purely  American  development.  When,  a 
century  before  Colorado  became  a  State,  the 
original  thirteen  States  began  the  great  ex- 
periment of  a  free  and  independent  republic 
on  this  continent,  the  process  which  we  now 
accept  in  such  matter-of-course  fashion 


196    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

looked  upon  as  abnormal  and  revolutionary. 
It  is  our  own  success  here  in  America  that 
has  brought  about  the  complete  alteration 
in  feeling.  The  chief  factor  in  producing 
the  Revolution,  and  later  in  producing  the 
war  of  1812,  was  the  inability  of  the  mother 
country  to  understand  that  the  freemen  who 
went  forth  to  conquer  a  continent  should  be 
encouraged  in  that  work,  and  could  not  and 
ought  not  to  be  expected  to  toil  only  for  the 
profit  or  glory  of  others.  When  the  first 
Continental  Congress  assembled,  the  British 
government,  like  every  other  government  of 
Europe  at  that  time,  simply  did  not  know 
how  to  look  upon  the  general  question  of 
the  progress  of  the  colonies  save  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  people  who  had  stayed  at 
home.  The  spread  of  the  hardy,  venture- 
some backwoodsmen  was  to  most  of  the 
statesmen  of  London  a  matter  of  anxiety 
rather  than  of  pride,  and  the  famous  Quebec 
Act  of  1774  was  in  part  designed  with  the 
purpose  of  keeping  the  English-speaking 
settlements  permanently  east  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  and  preserving  the  mighty  and 
beautiful  valley  of  the  Ohio  as  a  hunting- 
ground  for  savages,  a  preserve  for  the  great 
fur-trading  companies;  and  as  late  as  1812 
this  project  was  partially  revived. 

"  More  extraordinary  still,  even  after  in- 
depende.n?e  was  achieved,  and,  a  firm  Union 


STATEHOOD  AND  MANHOOD.  597 

accomplished  under  that  wonderful  docu- 
ment, the  Constitution  adopted  in  1789,  we 
still  see  traces  of  the  same  feeling  lingering 
here  and  there  in  our  own  country.  There 
were  plenty  of  men  in  the  seaboard  States 
who  looked  with  what  seems  to  us  ludicrous 
apprehension  at  the  steady  westward  growth 
of  our  people.  Grave  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives expressed  dire  foreboding  as  to 
the  ruin  which  would  result  from  admitting 
the  communities  growing  up  along  the  Ohio 
to  a  full  equality  with  the  older  States  ;  and 
when  Louisiana  was  given  Statehood,  they 
insisted  that  that  very  fact  dissolved  the 
Union.  When  our  people  had  begun  to 
settle  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  Jefferson 
himself  accepted  with  equanimity  the  view 
that  probably  it  would  not  be  possible  to 
keep  regions  so  infinitely  remote  as  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Atlantic  coast  in  the 
same  Union.  Later  even  such  a  stanch 
Union  man  and  firm  believer  in  Western 
growth  as  fearless  old  Tom  Benton,  of  Mis- 
souri, thought  that  it  would  be  folly  to  try 
to  extend  the  national  limits  westward  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  In  1830  our  then 
best-known  man  of  letters  and  historian, 
Washington  Irving,  prophesied  that  for  ages 
to  come  the  country  upon  which  we  now 
stand  would  be  inhabited  simply  by  roving 
tribes  of  nomads. 


198   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

11  The  mental  attitude  of  all  these  good 
people  need  not  surprise  anybody.  There 
was  nothing  in  the  past  by  which  to  judge 
either  the  task  before  this  country,  or  the  way 
in  which  that  task  was  to  be  done.  As  Lowell 
finely  said,  on  this  continent  we  have  made 
new  States  as  Old  World  men  pitch  tents. 
Even  the  most  far-seeing  statesmen,  those 
most  gifted  with  the  imagination  needed  by 
really  great  statesmen,  could  not  at  first 
grasp  what  the  process  really  meant.  Slowly 
and  with  incredible  labor  the  backwoods- 
men of  the  old  colonies  hewed  their  way 
through  the  dense  forests  from  the  tide- 
water region  to  the  crest  of  the  Alleghanies. 
But  by  the  time  the  Alleghanies  were  reached, 
about  at  the  moment  when  our  national  life 
began,  the  movement  had  gained  wonderful 
momentum.  Thenceforward  it  advanced 
by  leaps  and  bounds,  and  the  frontier  pushed 
westward  across  the  continent  with  ever- 
increasing  rapidity  until  the  day  came  when 
it  vanished  entirely.  Our  greatest  states- 
men have  always  been  those  who  believed 
in  the  nation — who  had  faith  in  the  power  of 
our  people  to  spread  until  they  should  be- 
come the  mightiest  among  the  peoples  of  the 
world. 

"  Under  any  governmental  system  which 
was  known  to  Europe,  the  problem  offered 
by  the  westward  thrust,  across  a  continent, 


STATEHOOD  AND  MANHOOD.  190 

of  so  masterful  and  liberty-loving  a  race  as 
ours  would  have  been  insoluble.  The  great 
civilized  and  colonizing  races  of  antiquity, 
the  Greeks  and  the  Romans,  had  been  ut- 
terly unable  to  devise  a  scheme  under  which 
when  their  race  spread  it  might  be  possible 
to  preserve  both  national  unity  and  local  and 
individual  freedom.  When  a  Hellenic  or 
Latin  city  sent  off  a  colony,  one  of  two  things 
happened.  Either  the  colony  was  kept  in 
political  subjection  to  the  city  or  state  of 
which  it  was  an  offshot,  or  else  it  became  a 
wholly  independent  and  alien,  and  often  a 
hostile  nation.  Both  systems  were  fraught 
with  disaster.  With  the  Greeks  race  unity 
was  sacrificed  to  local  independence,  and  as 
a  result  the  Greek  world  became  an  easy 
prey  of  foreign  conquerors.  The  Romans 
kept  national  unity,  but  only  by  means  of  a 
crushing  centralized  despotism. 

"  When  the  modern  world  entered  upon 
the  marvelous  era  of  expansion  which  began 
with  the  discoveries  of  Columbus,  the  na- 
tions were  able  to  devise  no  new  plan.  All 
the  great  colonizing  powers,  England,  France, 
Spain,  Portugal,  Holland,  and  Russia,  man- 
aged their  colonies  primarily  in  the  interest 
of  the  home  country.  Some  did  better  than 
others— England  probably  best  and  Spain 
worst, — but  in  no  case  were  the  colonists 
treated  as  citizens  of  equal  rights  in  a  com- 


200    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

mon  country.  Our  ancestors,  who  were  at 
once  the  strongest  and  the  most  liberty- 
loving  among  all  the  peoples  who  had  been 
thrust  out  into  new  continents,  were  the  first 
to  revolt  against  this  system  ;  and  the  lesson 
taught  by  their  success  has  been  thoroughly 
learned. 

"  In  applying  the  new  principles  to  our 
conditions  we  have  found  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution a  nearly  perfect  instrument.  The 
system  of  a  closely  knit  and  indestructible 
union  of  free  commonwealths  has  enabled 
us  to  do  what  neither  Greek  nor  Roman  in 
their  greatest  day  could  do.  We  have  pre- 
served the  complete  unity  of  an  expanding 
race  without  impairing  in  the  slightest  degree 
the  liberty  of  the  individual.  When  in  a 
given  locality  the  settlers  became  sufficiently 
numerous,  they  were  admitted  to  Statehood, 
and  thenceforward  shared  all  the  rights  and 
all  the  duties  of  the  citizens  of  the  older 
States.  As  with  Columbus  and  the  egg,  the 
expedient  seems  obvious  enough  nowadays  ; 
but  then  it  was  so  novel  that  a  couple  of 
generations  had  to  pass  before  we  ourselves 
thoroughly  grasped  all  its  features.  At  last 
we  grew  to  accept  as  axiomatic  the  two  facts 
of  national  union  and  local  and  personal 
freedom.  As  whatever  is  axiomatic  seems 
commonplace,  we  now  tend  to  accept  what 
has  been  accomplished  a  mere  matter-of- 


STATEHOOD  AND  MANHOOD.  201 

course  incident,  of  no  great  moment.  The 
very  completeness  with  which  the  vitally 
important  task  has  been  done  almost  blinds 
us  to  the  extraordinary  nature  of  the  achieve- 
ment. 

"  You,  the  men  of  Colorado,  and  above 
all,  the  older  among  those  whom  I  am  now 
addressing,  have  been  engaged  in  doing  the 
great  typical  work  of  our  people.  Save  only 
the  preservation  of  the  Union  itself,  no  other 
task  has  been  so  important  as  the  conquest 
and  settlement  of  the  West.  This  conquest 
and  settlement  has  been  the  stupendous  feat 
of  our  race  for  the  century  that  has  just 
closed.  It  stands  supreme  among  all  such 
feats.  The  same  kind  of  thing  has  been  in 
Australia  and  Canada,  but  upon  a  less  im- 
portant scale,  while  the  Russian  advance  in 
Siberia  has  been  incomparably  slower.  In 
all  the  history  of  mankind  there  is  nothing 
that  quite  parallels  the  way  in  which  our 
people  have  filled  a  vacant  continent  with 
self-governing  commonwealths,  knit  into  one 
nation.  And  of  all  this  marvelous  history 
perhaps  the  most  wonderful  portion  is  that 
which  deals  with  the  way  in  which  the  Pa- 
cific coast  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  were 
settled. 

"  The  men  who  founded  these  communities 
showed  practically  by  their  life-work  that  it 
is  indeed  the  spirit  of  adventure  which  is  the. 


203   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

maker  of  commonwealths.  Their  traits  of 
daring  and  hardihood  and  iron  endurance 
are  not  merely  indispensable  traits  for 
pioneers  ;  they  are  also  traits  which  must 
go  to  the  make-up  of  every  mighty  and  suc- 
cessful people.  You  and  your  fathers  who 
built  up  the  West  did  more  even  than  you 
thought ;  for  you  shaped  thereby  the  destiny 
of  the  whole  republic,  and  as  a  necessary 
corollary  profoundly  influenced  the  course 
of  events  throughout  the  world.  More  and 
more  as  the  years  go  by  this  republic  will 
find  its  guidance  in  the  thought  and  action 
of  the  West,  because  the  conditions  of  de- 
velopment in  the  West  have  steadily  tended 
to  accentuate  the  peculiarly  American  char- 
acteristics of  its  people. 

"  There  was  scant  room  for  the  coward 
and  the  weakling  in  the  ranks  of  the  advent- 
urous frontiersmen — the  pioneer  settlers 
who  first  broke  up  the  wild  prairie  soil,  who 
first  hewed  their  way  into  the  primeval  forest, 
who  guided  their  white-topped  wagons  across 
the  endless  leagues  of  Indian -haunted  des- 
olation, and  explored  every  remote  moun- 
tain-chain in  the  restless  quest  for  metal 
wealth.  Behind  them  came  the  men  who 
completed  the  work  they  had  roughly  begun : 
who  drove  the  great  railroad  systems  over 
plain  and  desert  and  mountain  pass  ;  who 
stocked  the  teeming  ranches,  and  under 


STATEHOOD  AND  MANHOOD.  203 

irrigation  saw  the  bright  green  of  the  alfalfa 
and  the  yellow  of  the  golden  stubble  sup- 
plant the  gray  of  the  sage-bush  desert ;  who 
have  built  great  populous  cities — cities  in 
which  even*  art  and  science  of  civilization 
are  carried  to  the  highest  point — on  tracts 
which,  when  the  nineteenth  century  had 
passed  its  meridian,  were  still  known  only 
to  the  grim  trappers  and  hunters  and  the 
red  lords  of  the  wilderness  with  whom  they 
waged  eternal  war. 

"  Such  is  the  record  of  which  we  are  so 
proud.  It  is  a  record  of  men  who  greatly 
dared  and  greatly  did  ;  a  record  of  wander- 
ings wider  and  more  dangerous  than  those 
of  the  Vikings ;  a  record  of  endless  feats  of 
arms,  of  victory  after  victory  in  the  ceaseless 
strife  waged  against  wild  man  and  wild  na- 
ture. The  winning  of  the  West  was  the 
great  epic  feat  in  the  history  of  our  race. 

"  We  have  then  a  right  to  meet  to-day  in 
a  spirit  of  just  pride  in  the  past.  But  when 
we  pay  homage  to  the  hardy,  grim,  resolute 
men  who,  with  incredible  toil  and  risk,  laid 
deep  the  foundations  of  the  civilization  that 
we  inherit,  let  us  steadily  remember  that  the 
only  homage  that  counts  is  the  homage  of 
deeds— not  merely  of  words.  It  is  well  to 
gather  here  to  show  that  we  remember  what 
has  been  done  in  the  past  by  the  Western 
pioneers  of  our  people,  and  that  we  glory  in 


204:   FROM  THE  RANCli  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

the  greatness  for  which  they  prepared  the 
way.  But  lip-loyalty  by  itself  avails  very 
little,  whether  it  is  expressed  concerning  a 
nation  or  an  ideal.  It  would  be  a  sad  and 
evil  thing  for  this  country  if  ever  the  day 
came  when  we  considered  the  great  deeds 
of  our  forefathers  as  an  excuse  for  our  rest- 
ing slothfully  satisfied  with  what  has  been  al- 
ready done.  On  the  contrary,  they  should 
be  an  inspiration  and  appeal,  summoning  us 
to  show  that  we  too  have  courage  and 
strength  ;  that  we  too  are  ready  to  dare 
greatly  if  the  need  arises  ;  and,  above  all, 
that  we  are  firmly  bent  upon  that  steady 
performance  of  every-day  duty  which,  in 
the  long  run,  is  of  such  incredible  worth  in 
the  formation  of  national  character. 

"  The  old  iron  days  have  gone,  the  days 
when  the  weakling  died  as  the  penalty  of 
inability  to  hold  his  own  in  the  rough  war- 
fare against  his  surroundings.  We  live  in 
softer  times.  Let  us  see  to  it  that,  while  we 
take  advantage  of  every  gentler  and  more 
humanizing  tendency  of  the  age,  we  yet 
preserve  the  iron  quality  which  made  our 
forefathers  and  predecessors  fit  to  do  the 
deeds  they  did.  It  will  of  necessity  find  a 
different  expression  now,  but  the  quality 
itself  remains  just  as  necessary  as  ever. 
Surely  you  men  of  the  West,  you  men  who 
with  stout  heart,  cool  head,  and  ready  hand 


STATEHOOD  AND  MANHOOD.  205 

have  wrought  out  your  own  success  and 
built  up  these  great  new  commonwealths, 
surely  you  need  no  reminder  of  the  fact  that 
if  either  man  or  nation  wishes  to  play  a 
great  part  in  the  world  there  must  be  no 
dallying  with  the  life  of  lazy  ease.  In  the 
abounding  energy  and  intensity  of  existence 
in  our  mighty  democratic  republic  there  is 
small  space  indeed  for  the  idler,  for  the 
luxury-loving  man  who  prizes  ease  more 
than  hard,  triumph-crowned  effort. 

11  We  hold  work  not  as  a  curse  but  a  bless- 
ing, and  we  regard  the  idler  with  scornful 
pity.  It  would  be  in  the  highest  degree  un- 
desirable that  we  should  all  work  in  the 
same  way  or  at  the  same  things,  and  for  the 
sake  of  the  real  greatness  of  the  nation  we 
should  in  the  fullest  and  most  cordial  way 
recognize  the  fact  that  some  of  the  most 
needed  work  must,  from  its  very  nature,  be 
unremunerative  in  a  material  sense.  Each 
man  must  choose  so  far  as  the  conditions 
allow  him  the  path  to  which  he  is  bidden  by 
his  own  peculiar  powers  and  inclinations. 
But  if  he  is  a  man  he  must  in  some  way  or 
shape  do  a  man's  work.  If,  after  making  all 
the  effort  that  his  strength  of  body  and  of 
mind  permits,  he  yet  honorably  fails,  why, 
he  is  still  entitled  to  a  certain  share  of  re- 
spect because  he  has  made  the  effort.  But  if 
he  does  not  make  the^  effort,  or  if  he  makes 


^06    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

it  half-heartedly  and  recoils  from  the  labor, 
the  risk,  or  the  irksome  monotony  of  his 
task,  why,  he  has  forfeited  all  right  to  our 
respect,  and  has  shown  himself  a  mere  cum- 
berer  on  the  earth.  It  is  not  given  to  us  all 
to  succeed,  but  it  is  given  to  us  all  to  strive 
manfully  to  deserve  success. 

"  We  need  then  the  iron  qualities  that 
must  go  with  true  manhood.  We  need  the 
positive  virtues  of  resolution,  of  courage,  of 
indomitable  will,  of  power  to  do  without 
shrinking  the  rough  work  that  must  always 
be  done,  and  to  persevere  through  the  long 
days  of  slow  progress  or  of  seeming  failure 
which  always  come  before  any  final  triumph, 
no  matter  how  brilliant.  But  we  need  more 
than  these  qualities.  This  country  cannot 
afford  to  have  its  sons  less  than  men ;  but 
neither  can  it  afford  to  have  them  other  than 
good  men.  If  courage  and  strength  and  in- 
tellect are  unaccompanied  by  the  moral  pur- 
pose, the  moral  sense,  they  become  merely 
forms  of  expression  for  unscrupulous  force 
and  unscrupulous  cunning.  If  the  strong 
man  has  not  in  him  the  lift  toward  lofty  things 
his  strength  makes  him  only  a  curse  to  him- 
self and  to  his  neighbor.  All  this  is  true  in 
private  life,  and  it  is  no  less  true  in  public 
life.  If  Washington  and  Lincoln  had  not 
had  in  them  the  whipcord  fiber  of  moral  and 
piental  strength,  the  soul  that  steels  itself  to 


STATEHOOD  AND  MANHOOD.  207 

endure  disaster  unshaken  and  with  grim  re- 
solve  to  wrest  victory  from  defeat,  then  the 
one  could  not  have  founded,  nor  the  other 
preserved,  our  mighty  federal  Union.  The 
least  touch  of  flabbiness,  of  unhealthy  soft- 
ness, in  either  would  have  meant  ruin  for 
this  nation,  and  therefore  the  downfall  of 
the  proudest  hope  of  mankind.  But  no  less 
is  it  true  that  had  either  been  influenced  by 
self-seeking  ambition,  by  callous  disregard 
of  others,  by  contempt  for  the  moral  law, 
they  would  have  dashed  us  down  into  the 
black  gulf  of  failure.  Woe  to  all  of  us  if 
ever  as  a  people  we  grow  to  condone  evil 
because  it  is  successful.  We  can  no  more 
afford  to  lose  social  and  civic  decency  and 
honesty  than  we  can  afford  to  lose  the  qual- 
ities of  courage  and  strength.  It  is  the 
merest  truism  to  say  that  the  nation  rests 
upon  the  individual,  upon  the  family— upon 
individual  manliness  and  womanliness,  using 
the  words  in  their  widest  and  fullest  meaning. 
"  To  be  a  good  husband  or  good  wife,  a 
good  neighbor  and  friend,  to  be  hard-work- 
ing and  upright  in  business  and  social  rela- 
tions, to  bring  up  many  healthy  children— to 
be  and  to  do  all  this  is  to  lay  the  foundations 
of  good  citizenship  as  they  must  be  laid. 
But  we  cannot  stop  even  with  this.  Each 
of  us  has  not  only  his  duty  to  himself,  his 
family,  and  his  neighbors,  but  his  duty  to 


£08   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

the  State  and  to  the  nation.  We  are  in 
honor  bound  each  to  strive  according  to  his 
or  her  strength  to  bring  ever  nearer  the  day 
when  justice  and  wisdom  shall  obtain  in 
public  life  as  in  private  life.  We  cannot 
retain  the  full  measure  of  our  self-respect  it 
we  cannot  retain  pride  in  our  citizenship. 
For  the  sake  not  only  of  ourselves  but  of  our 
children  and  our  children's  children  we 
must  see  that  this  nation  stands  for  strength 
and  honesty  both  at  home  and  abroad.  In 
our  internal  policy  we  cannot  afford  to  rest 
satisfied  until  all  that  the  Government  can 
do  has  been  done  to  secure  fair  dealing  and 
equal  justice  as  between  man  and  man.  In 
the  great  part  which  hereafter,  whether  we 
will  or  not,  we  must  play  in  the  world  at 
large,  let  us  see  to  it  that  we  neither  do 
wrong  nor  shrink  from  doing  right  because 
the  right  is  difficult  ;  that  on  the  one  hand 
we  inflict  no  injury,  and  that  on  the  other 
we  have  a  due  regard  for  the  honor  and  the 
interest  of  our  mighty  nation  ;  and  that  we 
keep  unsullied  the  renown  of  the  flag  which 
beyond  all  others  of  the  present  time  or  of 
the  ages  of  the  past  stands  for  confident  faith 
in  the  future  welfare  and  greatness  of 
mankind." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

PRESIDENT. 

THOSE  of  us  who  are  old  enough  to  re- 
member the  month  of  April,  1865,  will  never 
forget  the  thrill  of  horror  and  wrath  that 
swept  through  the  country,  when  the  news 
flashed  from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the 
other  that  the  great  and  good  Abraham  Lin- 
coln had  been  stricken  down  by  the  bullet 
of  an  assassin.  It  was  the  first  time  that 
such  a  horrifying  crime  had  occurred  in  our 
history.  Indeed,  every  one  believed  that  it 
was  impossible  that  it  should  occur,  and  for 
a  time  many  shook  their  heads  and  refused 
to  credit  the  tidings.  But,  alas  !  it  was  not 
only  true,  but,  while  it  was  the  first  assassi- 
nation, it  was  destined  not  to  be  the  last. 

Sixteen  years  had  come  and  gone,  and  the 
tragedy  had  taken  its  place  among  the  woful 
events  of  the  past,  when  President  Garfield,  on 
a  sultry  July  day,  was  shot  down  by  a  half 
crazy  miscreant  in  the  Baltimore  Railway 
station  at  Washington,  and  despite  the  most 
careful  nursing  and  the  best  medical  skill, 
he  died  about  two  months  later.  Then,  in 
14  209 


210  F&OM  THE  RANCH  to  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

the  month  of  September,  1901,  came  the 
final  tragedy,  and  McKinley  was  the  third 
President  called  to  die  a  martyr's  death. 

Thus,  through  one  of  the  most  lamentable 
of  all  crimes,  Theodore  Roosevelt  became 
President  of  the  United  States.  The  as- 
sassination was  so  recent,  that  we  all  remem- 
ber the  hopeful  reports  of  the  medical  men 
which  was  the  cause  of  a  general  belief  that 
McKinley  would  rally  and  recover  from  his 
wound.  But  it  was  not  to  so  be. 

Some  time  before  the  death  of  the  Presi- 
dent, two  of  Mrs.  Roosevelt's  children  had 
been  in  the  hospital.  They  were  in  need  of 
the  tonic  of  mountain  air,  and  their  parents 
thankfully  accepted  an  invitation  to  occupy 
a  cottage  of  a  friend  at  Mount  Marcy,  the 
principal  mountain  peak  in  the  Adirondacks. 
There,  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  staying  with  his 
loved  ones,  when  news  reached  him  of  the 
terrible  event  at  Buffalo.  He  hurried  thither 
as  fast  as  steam  could  carry  him.  He  was 
shocked  and  deeply  depressed  by  the  striking 
down  of  his  Chief,  ana  no  man  ever  prayed 
more  ardently  than  he  that  he  would  recover 
from  his  cruel  wounding.  The  gleam  of  sun- 
shine came  when  he  reached  the  bedside 
of  the  sufferer  and  found  him  hopeful  and 
apparently  in  good  condition.  But  the 
Vice-President  was  too  prudent  to  pin  his 
faith  to  the  mere  feelings  of  the  illustrious 


PRESIDENT.  211 

patient.  He  asked  the  honest,  confidential 
opinion  of  the  medical  men.  Three  of  them 
assured  him  that  there  was  hardly  a  shadow 
of  doubt  that  the  President  would  recover. 

"And  will  it  be  safe  tor  me  to  return  to 
my  family,  where  my  presence  is  needed  ? " 

"  You  need  have  no  hesitation  whatever," 
was  the  reassuring  reply* 

With  such  a  warrant,  Mr.  Roosevelt  has- 
tened back  to  Mount  Marcy,  where  wife  and 
sick  little  ones  waited  for  his  coming.  He 
was  criticised  for  not  only  leaving  the  suf- 
ferer at  Buffalo,  but  it  was  said  by  some  that 
he  engaged  in  a  hunting  excursion  among 
the  mountains.  In  truth,  he  never  dreamed 
of  anything  of  that  nature.  In  the  whole 
broad  land,  there  was  no  sincerer  or  more 
anxious  mourner  than  he.  He  had  arranged 
with  two  friends  in  Buffalo  to  keep  him  in- 
formed by  telegraph  of  the  President's  daily 
or  hourly  condition.  The  news  continued 
so  encouraging  that  on  Thursday  morning, 
September  I2th,  he  planned  a  little  moun- 
tain trip  for  himself  and  family  and  several 
boy  friends  of  his  children.  The  household 
shared  his  love  for  vigorous  exercise,  and 
with  the  exception  of  the  youngest  two 
children,  they  made  the  five-mile  tramp 
with  him.  Their  plan  was  to  spend  the 
night  at  an  open  camp,  returning  home  the 
next  day. 


212    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

Early  on  the  following  morning,  two  tele- 
grams reached  North  Creek,  the  terminus  of 
the  telegraph  line,  with  the  news  that  the 
President's  condition  had  become  so  much 
worse,  that  the  gravest  results  were  feared. 
Another  message  arrived  from  Mr.  Roose- 
velt's secretary,  telling  him  that  he  was 
coming  on  a  special  train  for  Mr.  Roosevelt. 
From  the  terminal  these  messages  were 
telephoned  to  the  lower  club  house,  and 
thence  carried  by  team  ten  miles  over  the 
roughest  of  mountain  roads  to  the  cottage 
where  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  his  family  were 
staying,  although  temDorarily  absent. 

One  of  the  veteran  Adirondack  guides 
volunteered  to  take  the  messages  to  Mr. 
Roosevelt.  He  plunged  straightway  into 
the  wilderness,  with  the  long,  swinging 
stride  which  those  of  his  calling  can  main- 
tain hour  after  hour  without  fatigue.  Where 
he  crossed  the  Hudson  River,  on  a  frail 
foot-bridge,  it  was  less  than  twenty  feet 
wide.  He  had  traversed  half  the  distance 
when  he  met  the  women  of  the  party  re- 
turning to  the  club-house,  under  charge  of 
one  of  the  men.  They  told  him  that  Mr. 
Roosevelt  and  the  others  had  yielded  to  the 
temptation  to  climb  Mount  Marcy.  The 
guide  pushed  on,  determined  to  find  his 
man  and  deliver  the  messages  with  which  he 
had  been  entrusted.  He  had  a  long  distance 


PRESIDENT.  213 

to  travel  through  the  black,  tangled  forest, 
and  the  toil  would  have  worn  out  many  a 
vigorous  person.  But  this  guide  had  be- 
come inured  to  the  work  ;  he  knew  the 
country,  and  not  once  did  he  hesitate  or  lose 
his  way.  Hour  after  hour  he  tramped  on, 
and,  quite  early  in  the  afternoon,  came  upon 
the  party  at  the  summit  of  Mount  Marcy, 
where  they  had  seated  themselves  on  the 
ground  and  were  eating  lunch  with  the 
keenest  of  enjoyment. 

When  Mr.  Roosevelt  looked  up  at  the 
sound  of  a  footstep  and  saw  the  tall,  thin, 
muscular  guide  stalking  toward  him,  with 
the  yellow  slips  of  paper  in  one  hand,  he 
knew  he  brought  momentous  news.  The 
Vice-President  hurriedly  took  the  messages 
from  the  messenger,  and  neither  he  nor  any 
of  his  companions  spoke  while  he  exam- 
ined them.  When  Mr.  Roosevelt  could 
command  his  voice,  he  read  them  aloud. 
Then,  pulling  himself  together,  he  rose  to 
his  feet,  saying  that  he  must  return  to  the 
club-house  at  once. 

With  characteristic  promptness,  he  started 
his  long,  vigorous  stride  so  rapid  that  he 
kept  well  in  advance  throughout  the  whole 
distance.  It  can  well  be  imagined  that  his 
active  brain  was  surging  with  thoughts  such 
as  had  never  stirred  him  before.  The  imme- 
diate question  was  as  to  what  he  should  dc 


$14:    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

in  the  unprecedented  circumstances.  The 
message  from  Secretary  Loeb  was  hopeful, 
and  was  that  of  a  cooler-headed  man  than 
the  overstrained  Cortelyou.  Whose  judg- 
ment should  Mr.  Roosevelt  act  upon  ?  He 
placed  greater  weight  to  the  words  of  the 
Secretary.  If  he  accepted  the  alarming  mes< 
sage  of  Mr.  Cortelyou  and  rushed  out  of  the 
woods,  only  to  find,  upon  reaching  Buffalo, 
that  the  relapse  of  the  President  had  been 
temporary,  and  that  he  was  farther  on  the 
road  to  recovery  than  before,  the  action  of 
Mr.  Roosevelt  would  look  unseemly  eager, 
and  would  be  sure  to  bring  harsh  criticism. 
It  must  be  remembered,  too,  that  neither  of 
the  two  gentlemen,  with  whom  the  Vice- 
President  had  arranged  to  keep  him  in- 
formed, had  sent  any  word  to  him.  In  the 
circumstances,  he  was  warranted  in  mak- 
ing the  decision  not  to  leave  Mount  Marcy 
until  Saturday  morning,  unless  the  news 
assumed  an  alarming  character  before  that 
time. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  and  two  guides  arrived  at 
the  club-house  a  little  before  seven  in  the 
evening.  Meanwhile,  Secretary  Loeb  had 
caught  the  special  train  at  Albany,  and 
reached  North  Creek  about  noon.  He  be- 
gan telegraphing  inquiries  as  to  when  the 
Vice-President  would  reach  the  lower  club- 
house. He  kept  it  up  through  the  after 


PRESIDENT.  215 

noon,  without  receiving  any  satisfactory  re- 
sponses. Unfortunately,  though  perhaps 
naturally,  no  later  bulletins  regarding  the 
President's  condition  were  sent;  the  only 
ones  were  urgent  inquiries  as  to  whether 
Mr.  Roosevelt  had  been  found.  It  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  there  was  no  telephonic 
communication  between  the  upper  and  lower 
club-houses,  and  it  took  two  hours  of  hard 
driving  to  pass  from  one  to  the  other.  Thus, 
when  Mr.  Roosevelt  reached  the  upper 
house,  he  found  no  news  later  than  the  tele- 
grams which  had  been  carried  to  him  on 
Mount  Marcy.  He  could  learn  nothing 
more  except  by  sending  to  the  lower  house, 
which  meant  an  interval  of  four  hours. 
Meantime,  the  wisest  thing  for  him  to  do  was 
to  get  some  sleep,  so  as  to  be  ready  in  case  a 
sudden  summons  came  to  him. 

When  the  messenger  reached  the  lower 
house,  he  found  no  messages  for  the  Vice- 
President.  He  called  up  Secretary  Loeb  at 
North  Creek,  who  replied  that  he  had  a 
large  number  of  telegrams  and  bulletins, 
which  he  was  holding  until  he  could  learn 
the  whereabouts  of  Mr.  Roosevelt.  It  took 
considerable  time  to  write  out  the  budget 
that  was  sent  over  the  telephone,  and  it  was 
nine  o'clock  at  night  when  the  messenger 
started  back  for  the  upper  house.  A  fine, 
misty  rain  was  falling,  and  the  darkness  was 


216    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

impenetrable,  but  the  man  knew  the  road  too 
well  to  go  astray,  and  he  appeared  at  the 
Vice-President's  cottage  a  little  before  mid- 
night. He  was  roused,  and  read  the  mes- 
sages. One  of  them  stated  that  McKinley 
was  dead,  but  a  later  bulletin  from  Secretary 
Cortelyou  contradicted  this,  though  it  said 
the  President  was  being  kept  alive  by  the 
use  of  oxygen.  There  could  be  no  question 
of  the  profound  gravity  of  the  situation,  nor 
of  the  call  for  the  utmost  haste  on  the  part 
of  the  Vice-President. 

He  swallowed  a  few  mouthfuls,  flung 
some  articles  in  his  dress-suit  case,  bade  his 
family  good-bye,  and  before  it  was  midnight 
sprang  into  the  light  wagon  and  told  the 
driver  to  travel  the  thirty-five  miles  with  all 
possible  haste.  To  obey  orders  meant  a 
continual  succession  of  perils.  One-third  of 
the  way  was  over  the  old  trail  formerly  used 
for  hauling  pig-iron.  For  most  of  the  dis- 
tance, a  bank,  in  many  places  thirty  feet 
high,  sloped  down  to  a  series  of  small  lakes, 
while  on  the  other  side,  huge  stumps  and 
boulders  were  so  close  to  the  highway,  that 
the  marks  showed  that  they  had  been  scraped 
by  the  hubs  of  many  wheels,  even  in  day- 
light. The  road  itself  is  narrow,  with  many 
deep  mud  holes,  to  pass  which  at  a  faster 
gait  than  a  slow  walk,  would  have  insured 
the  wrecking  of  the  wagon,  while  to  skirt 


PRESIDENT.  217 

them  would  bring  the  outer  wheels  within  a 
few  inches  of  the  steep  and  dangerous  bank. 
Death  could  be  avoided  only  by  the  driver 
keeping  the  horses  in  the  highway  all  the 
time.  The  passenger  was  impatient,  and 
now  and  then  he  urged  the  driver  to  do  bet* 
ter,  conscious  at  the  same  time  that  he  wag 
doing  his  best.  When  the  peril  decreased, 
the  driver  made  the  horses  trot.  They  hur- 
ried up  the  short  hills  and  seemed  to  be 
plunging  into  bottomless  pits  on  the  other 
side;  their  metal  shoes  clicked  against  the 
stones,  and  the  animals  slipped,  but  in- 
stantly recovered  themselves,  while  the  mas- 
sive driver  on  the  front  seat,  peering  keenly 
into  the  gloom,  by  the  aid  of  his  dim  lan- 
tern, kept  his  bearings,  and  was  not  startled 
when  the  hubs  of  the  wheels  rasped  against 
stump  or  rock.  Then  after  a  swerve  in  the 
other  direction,  the  passenger  as  well  as 
driver  knew  they  were  on  the  very  edge  of 
the  perpendicular  bank  over  which  men 
and  horses  were  liable  to  be  pitched  head- 
long. 

But  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  used  to  such  dan- 
gers. Instead  of  protesting  against  haste, 
he  forced  the  driver  to  go  the  limit.  The 
journey  ordinarily  takes  two  hours  when  the 
sun  is  shining,  but  on  that  memorable  night 
it  was  made  in  an  hour  and  a  quarter.  Be- 
fore the  team  halted  in  front  of  the  lower 


218    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

club-house,  Mr.  Roosevelt  leaped  out,  and 
dashing  up  the  steps,  asked  the  latest  news. 
The  bulletins  were  handed  to  him.  Then 
he  hurried  to  the  telephone  and  was  speedily 
in  communication  with  Secretary  Loeb  at 
North  Creek,  who  told  him  the  President 
was  sinking  and  all  hope  was  gone. 

"  I  will  be  with  you  as  soon  as  I  can," 
said  the  Vice-President,  who  bolted  some 
food,  while  a  fresh  team  was  made  ready  to 
take  him  to  Aiden  Lair,  nine  miles  distant. 
Two-thirds  of  the  way  was  the  best  of  the 
route,  but  there  were  many  long  hills  and 
deep  marshes.  Another  veteran  held  the 
reins,  and  between  three  and  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  drew  up  at  Aiden  Lair.  There 
a  buckboard  was  waiting,  and  now  that  day- 
light was  not  far  off,  the  team  was  driven 
at  headlong  speed.  Even  then  President 
McKinley  had  been  dead  for  an  hour,  but 
Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not  know  it. 

Sixteen  miles  remained  to  be  covered  and 
every  one  was  worse  than  any  of  those  al- 
ready passed.  But,  with  watch  in  hand,  the 
Vice-President  insisted  that  the  driver  should 
hurry  the  wiry  blacks,  whose  speed  from  the 
first  was  headlong  to  the  point  of  rashness. 
The  account  of  that  night  ride  from  Aiden 
Lair  to  North  Creek  would  make  a  thrilling 
story  if  it  could  be  told.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
time  and  again,  Mr.  Roosevelt  escaped  death 


PRESIDENT.  219 

by  a  hair's-breadth,  but  he  has  done  that  so 
often  that  it  almost  seems  as  if  he  bears  a 
charmed  life.  He  went  through  without  the 
slightest  mishap,  and,  a  few  minutes  before 
five  o'clock,  clasped  the  hand  of  Secretary 
Loeb  and  learned  that  President  McKinley 
was  no  more. 

Vice-President  Roosevelt  arrived  in  Buf- 
falo on  the  afternoon  of  September  14,  and 
drove  at  once  to  the  Milburn  House  where 
President  McKinley  lay  dead.  Overcome 
by  his  sorrow,  he  hurried  to  offer  condol- 
ence to  the  stricken  widow.  He  then  went 
to  the  Wilcox  House,  to  meet  Secretary 
Root,  and  several  members  of  the  Cabinet. 
The  Secretary  was  hardly  able  to  control  his 
emotions,  when  he  told  Mr.  Roosevelt  that 
it  was  the  wish  of  the  late  President  and  the 
Cabinet  that  he  should  take  the  prescribed 
oath  with  the  least  possible  delay.  An  eye- 
witness has  said  :  "  There  was  not  a  dry  eye 
in  the  room.  The  new  President  was  visibly 
shaken,  but  he  controlled  himself,  and  when 
he  lifted  his  hand  to  swear,  it  was  as  steady 
as  though  carved  in  marble.  The  taking  of 
the  oath  was  an  impressive  though  practi- 
cally a  private  ceremony.  Secretary  Root 
had  a  personal  talk  with  Mr.  Roosevelt,  then, 
stepping  back,  said  in  an  almost  inaudible 

voice  :  '  Mr.  Vice-President,  I '  Then  his 

voice  broke,  and  for  fully  two  minutes  the 


220    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

tears  caine  down  his  face  and  his  lips 
quivered  so  that  he  could  not  continue  his 
utterances.  There  were  sympathetic  tears 
from  those  about  him,  and  two  great  drops 
ran  down  either  cheek  of  the  successor  of 
William  McKinley.  Mr.  Root's  chin  was 
on  his  breast.  Suddenly  throwing  back  his 
head,  as  if  with  an  effort,  he  continued  in  a 
broken  voice. 

It  is  worth  noting  that  Secretary  of  War 
Root  was  present  when  Chester  A.  Arthur 
took  the  oath  of  office,  at  his  home  on  Lex- 
ington Avenue,  New  York,  a  few  days  after 
the  assassination  of  President  Garfield. 

One  of  what  may  be  considered  the  first 
official  utterances  of  President  Roosevelt 
was  his  statement  that  he  intended  to  con- 
tinue unbroken  the  policy  of  President 
McKinley  "  for  the  peace  and  prosperity  of 
our  beloved  country."  These  words  were 
received  with  much  satisfaction  throughout 
the  country,  and  nothing  could  have  been 
more  dignified  or  in  better  taste. 

Such  being  the  purpose  of  the  new  Presi- 
dent, it  naturally  followed  that  he  should  ask 
the  members  of  the  old  Cabinet  to  retain 
their  places.  Custom  would  have  required 
each  to  offer  his  resignation,  but  all  com- 
plied with  the  request  made  of  them.  The 
first  proclamation  of  President  Roosevelt 
follows  : 


PRESIDENT.  221 

"  By  the  President  of  the  United  States 
of  America.  A  proclamation  : 

"  A  terrible  bereavement  has  befallen  our 
people.  The  President  of  the  United  States 
has  been  struck  down  ;  a  crime  committed 
not  only  against  the  Chief  Magistrate,  but 
against  every  law-abiding  and  liberty-loving 
citizen. 

"President  McKinley  crowned  a  life  of 
largest  love  for  his  fellow-men,  of  most  ear- 
nest endeavor  for  their  welfare,  by  a  death  of 
Christian  fortitude  ;  and  both  the  way  in 
which  he  lived  his  life  and  the  way  in  which, 
in  the  supreme  hour  of  trial,  he  met  his 
death,  will  remain  forever  a  precious  heri- 
tage of  our  people. 

"  It  is  meet  that  we,  as  a  Nation,  express 
our  abiding  love  and  reverence  for  his  life, 
our  deep  sorrow  for  his  untimely  death. 

"Now,  therefore,  I,  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
do  appoint  Thursday  next,  September  nine- 
teenth, the  day  in  which  the  body  of  the 
dead  President  will  be  laid  in  its  last  earthly 
resting-place,  a  day  of  mourning  and  prayer 
throughout  the  United  States. 

"  I  earnestly  recommend  all  the  people  to 
assemble  on  that  day  in  their  respective 
places  of  divine  worship,  there  to  bow  down 
in  submission  to  the  will  of  Almighty  God, 
and  to  pay  out  of  full  hearts  their  homage  of 


222    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

love  and  reverence  to  the  great  and  good 
President  whose  death  has  smitten  the  Na- 
tion with  bitter  grief. 

"  In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set 
my  hand  and  caused  the  seal  of  the  United 
States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at  the  city  of  Washington  the 
fourteenth  day  of  September,  A.D.  one 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  one,  and  of  the 
independence  of  the  United  States  the  one- 
hundred-and-twenty-sixth. 

"  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

A   NATIONAL   MENACE. 

EVERY  true  American  is  proud  of  his 
country,  and  every  intelligent  person,  who 
can  make  an  impartial  comparison,  must 
concede  that  we  are  the  superior  of  all  other 
nations,  in  everything  that  tends  to  make  a 
people  truly  great.  The  Republic  of  the 
West  is  the  grandest  that  ever  existed  since 
the  world  began,  and  is  the  hope  of  coming 
generations,  of  civilization,  of  progress,  and 
of  Christianity. 

But  there  are  spots  on  the  sun,  and  we  are 
still  a  long  way  from  perfection.  Conscious 
of  many  grave  imperfections,  we  still  make 
no  serious  effort  to  correct  them.  Where 
all  are  agreed  that  some  policy  is  as  bad  as 
bad  can  be,  we  still  pursue  it.  Only  when  the 
results  become  intolerable,  does  outraged 
moral  sense  awake  to  action.  Our  people 
at  heart  are  sound.  When  they  realize  to 
its  full  extent  the  depths  of  infamy  to  which 
government  is  sunk  by  the  reign  of  bosses, 
the  citizens  turn  in  their  wrath  and  smite 
them.  But,  after  all,  such  awakenings  are 
223 


224  FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

only  spasms  of  virtue.  Ere  long  the  cunning 
bosses  work  their  way  again  to  the  top,  and 
the  "  machine  "  operates  as  smoothly  as  be- 
fore. .No  people  in  the  world  are  as  patient 
and  long  suffering  as  we. 

One  of  the  gravest  menaces  to  our  national 
safety  is  the  indiscriminate  immigration  that 
has  not  only  been  permitted  for  years,  but 
is  increasing  at  a  perilous  rate.  More  than 
a  million  emigrants  leave  their  homes  on  the 
other  side  of  the  ocean  every  year  and  settle 
in  this  country.  They  are  disgorged  by  the 
European  nations  and  drop  into  the  hopper 
that  is  always  yawning  invitingly  open  to 
them.  We  have  an  enormous  country, 
which,  even  with  this  prodigious  inflow,  will 
not  be  as  densely  populated  as  some  portions 
of  Europe  for  generations  to  come.  These 
people  have  formed  settlements  and  com- 
munities in  the  Southwest,  West  and  North- 
west that  are  models,  as  respects  orderliness, 
industry  and  thrift.  They  are  welcome  and 
beneficial  additions,  and  no  one  grudges  them 
a  dwelling-place  among  us. 

But  the  alarming  feature  of  all  this  is  that 
among  these  multitudes  are  some  of  the 
worst  miscreants  that  ever  breathed.  They 
come  here  unsuspected,  to  work  their  mis- 
chief, and  they  do  it  without  hindrance  from 
the  authorities.  Some  of  them  have  wrought 
such  evil  at  home,  that  they  have  been  forced 


A  NATIONAL  MENACE.  2^5 

to  flee,  from  their  own  weak,  corrupt  govern- 
mental systems.  When  there  is  no  safety 
left  for  them  at  home,  they  sheathe  their 
knives,  hide  their  bottles  of  poison  about 
their  clothes,  and  with  murder  in  their  hearts, 
flee  to  America,  as  resolute  as  ever  to  carry 
on  their  deviltry  when  opportunity  offers. 
There  are  thousands  of  them  to-day  living 
under  the  protection  of  our  laws  and  eager 
for  an  opportunity  to  commit  any  crime  no 
matter  how  shocking  its  nature. 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  truth  in  the  story 
that  one  of  these  wretches  when  questioned 
on  his  arrival,  as  to  which  political  party  he 
would  support,  replied  : 

"  I  don't  know  yet  ;  whichever  it  is,  it's 
got  to  be  agin  the  government." 

These  anarchists  are  the  reptiles  of  society 
who  ought  to  be  crushed,  as  any  man  would 
crush  with  his  heel  the  head  of  a  venomous 
serpent  coiled  at  his  feet.  We  have  been 
persistently  tolerant  of  them  and  have  reaped 
the  awful  consequences.  As  long  ago  as 
1884,  a  lot  of  anarchists  incited  a  crowd  of 
10,000  men,  most  of  whom  were  on  a 
strike,  -to  attack  the  McCormick  Reaper 
Works  in  Chicago.  A  fierce  conflict  with 
the  police  followed.  Some  nights  later,  a 
crowd  of  men  and  boys,  most  of  whom  were 
armed,  held  a  meeting  at  the  old  Haymarket 
Plaza,  where  the  most  incendiary  speeches 


226    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

were  made.  In  the  midst  of  one  of  these 
wild  harangues,  Inspector  Bonfield,  with  a 
column  of  policemen,  plowed  his  way 
through  the  mob  and  ordered  the  speaker 
to  cease  his  address.  A  furious  fight  was 
precipitated,  during  which  one  of  the  anarch- 
ists hurled  a  dynamite  bomb  among  the  offi- 
cers with  appalling  results.  Seven  police- 
men were  killed,  eleven  crippled  for  life  and 
twelve  so  grievously  hurt  that  they  could  not 
do  duty  for  a  year  afterward.  The  brave 
Inspector  Bonfield  and  his  men  did  not  stay 
their  hands  and  succeeded  in  dispersing  the 
mob. 

The.  leaders  in  this  crime  were  arrested 
and  given  a  fair  trial.  Their  guilt  was  so 
clearly  established,  that  several  were  hanged 
and  others  sentenced  to  long  terms  of  im- 
prisonment. As  soon  as  Governor  Altgeld 
came  into  office  in  1893,  he  pardoned  all 
that  remained  in  prison.  This  indiscrim- 
inate turning  loose  of  red-handed  criminals 
is  another  of  the  crying  abuses  of  executive 
power.  The  condemned  murderer  becomes 
the  pet  of  gushing  women,  and  the  members 
of  the  jury  who  have  justly  condemned  him, 
often  unite  in  asking  for  his  pardon. 

One  of  the  most  vicious  organizations 
among  the  Italians  is  known  as  the  "  Mafia." 
It  is  composed  mainly  of  assassins,  who  are 
ready,  whenever  ordered,  to  "  remove  "  any 


A  NATIONAL  MENACE.  227 

objectionable  person  whether  one  of  their 
own  countrymen  or  an  American  official. 
They  wrought  so  much  mischief  in  New 
Orleans,  that  Chief  Hennessy  set  out  to  ex- 
tirpate them.  When  he  had  brought  a  num- 
ber to  justice,  he  was  shot  down  on  his  own 
threshold,  in  the  month  of  October,  1890. 

This  outrage  was  too  flagrant  to  be  borne. 
Of  those  arrested,  nineteen  were  indicted, 
and  the  guilt  of  six  was  clearly  established. 
To  the  dismay  of  the  city,  every  one  of  the 
men  was  acquitted.  The  jury  had  been 
packed.  This  was  proved,  and  those  en- 
gaged in  the  shameful  work  were  indicted 
for  the  crime,  which  strikes  at  the  very  foun- 
dation of  society.  All  New  Orleans  was 
thrown  into  such  irrestrainable  rage  that  the 
citizens  attacked  the  prison  where  the  Ital- 
ians were  confined,  shot  nine  and  hanged 
two  outside  the  jail.  As  is  almost  invariably 
the  case  with  such  acts,  it  is  quite  probable 
that  vengeance  was  wreaked  upon  the  inno- 
cent. Five  of  the  victims  had  not  been 
tried,  and  it  will  never  be  known  whether 
or  not  they  were  guilty. 

Following  the  Chicago  and  New  Orleans 
crimes,  something  in  the  nature  of  a  reac- 
tion set  in  against  the  anarchists,  and  it  was 
generally  believed  that  we  should  have  no 
further  trouble  with  them.  The  New  Or- 
leans outrage  was  not  distinctively  an  an- 


228    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

archistic  one,  though  it  was  actuated  by  the 
same  diabolical  spirit  that  inspires  those 
who  look  upon  all  rulers  and  legal  authori- 
ties as  the  enemies  of  society,  fit  only  to  die 
by  the  hands  of  the  assassin. 

The  awakening  from  this  fancied  security 
came  at  Buffalo,  in  1901,  when  President 
McKinley  was  shot  by  a  genuine  anarchist. 
The  death  of  Lincoln  was  due  to  the  hot 
resentments  caused  by  the  Civil  War  ;  Gar- 
field  was  slain  by  a  disappointed  office- 
seeker,  but  McKinley  was  killed  by  aq 
anarchist.  Whether  he  was  the  agent  of 
some  organization  will  never  be  known.  In 
all  probability  he  was,  and  was  selected  to 
slay  one  of  the  best  of  men.  The  strongest 
proof  of  this  being  the  case,  is  his  own 
strenuous  denial  of  it. 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  we  are  not  yet 
through  with  the  anarchists.  When  they 
shall  have  assassinated  some  more  of  our 
Presidents  and  foremost  citizens,  we  may 
awake  to  the  duty  of  stamping  them  out. 

In  his  first  message  to  Congress,  Decem- 
ber 3,  1901,  President  Roosevelt  made  the 
following  impressive  references  to  the  mur- 
der of  McKinley  and  to  the  menace  of 
Anarchism  : 

"  The  Congress  assembles  this  year  under 
the  shadow  of  a  great  calamity.  On  the  6th 
of  September  President  McKinley  was  shot 


A  NATIONAL  MENACE.  229 

by  an  Anarchist  while  attending  the  Pan- 
American  Exposition  at  Buffalo,  and  died 
in  that  city  on  the  i4th  of  that  month. 

"  Of  the  last  seven  elected  Presidents,  he 
is  the  third  who  has  been  murdered,  and 
the  bare  recital  of  this  fact  is  sufficient  to 
justify  grave  alarm  among  all  loyal  American 
citizens.  Moreover,  the  circumstances  of 
this,  the  third  assassination  of  an  American 
President,  have  a  peculiarly  sinister  signifi- 
cance. Both  President  Lincoln  and  Presi- 
dent Garfield  were  killed  by  assassins  of 
types  unfortunately  not  uncommon  in  his- 
tory, President  Lincoln  falling  a  victim  to 
the  terrible  passions  aroused  by  four  years 
of  civil  war,  and  President  Garfield  to  the 
revengeful  vanity  of  a  disappointed  office- 
seeker.  President  McKinley  was  killed  by 
an  utterly  depraved  criminal  belonging  to 
that  body  of  criminals  who  object  to  all 
governments,  good  and  bad  alike,  who  are 
against  any  form  of  popular  liberty,  if  it  is 
guaranteed  by  even  'the  most  just  and  liberal 
laws,  and  who  are  as  hostile  to  the  upright 
exponent  of  a  free  people's  sober  will  as  to 
the  tyrannical  and  irresponsible  despot. 

"  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  at  the 
time  of  President  McKinley's  death  he  was 
the  most  widely  loved  man  in  all  the  United 
States,  while  we  have  never  had  any  public 
man  of  his  position  who  has  been  so  wholly 


230   FROM  THE  RA^tCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

free  from  the  bitter  animosities  incident  to 
public  life.  His  political  opponents  were 
the  first  to  bear  the  heartiest  and  most  gen- 
erous tribute  to  the  broad  kindliness  of  na- 
ture, the  sweetness  and  gentleness  of  char- 
acter, which  so  endeared  him  to  his  close 
associates. 

"  To  a  standard  of  lofty  integrity  in  public 
life,  he  united  the  tender  affections  and 
home  virtues  which  are  all  important  in  the 
makeup  of  national  character.  A  gallant 
soldier  in  the  great  war  for  the  Union,  he 
also  shone  as  an  example  to  all  our  people 
because  of  his  conduct  in  the  most  sacred 
and  intimate  of  home  relations.  There  could 
be  no  personal  hatred  of  him,  for  he  never 
acted  with  aught  but  consideration  for  the 
welfare  of  others.  No  one  could  fail  to  re- 
spect him  who  knew  him  in  public  or  private 
life.  The  defenders  of  those  murderous 
criminals  who  seek  to  excuse  their  crim- 
inality by  asserting  that  it  is  exercised  for 
political  ends  inveigh  against  wealth  and 
irresponsible  power.  But  for  this  assas- 
sination even  this  base  apology  cannot  be 
urged. 

11  President  McKinley  was  a  man  of  mod- 
erate means,  a  man  whose  stock  sprang  from 
the  sturdy  tillers  of  the  soil,  who  had  him- 
self belonged  among  the  wage-workers,  who 
had  entered  the  army  as  a  private  soldier. 


A  NATIONAL  MENACE.  231 

Wealth  was  not  struck  at  when  the  Presi- 
dent was  assassinated,  but  the  honest  toil 
which  is  content  with  moderate  gains  after 
a  lifetime  of  unremitting  labor,  largely  in  the 
service  of  the  public.  Still  less  was  power 
struck  at  in  the  sense  that  power  is  irre- 
sponsible or  centred  in  the  hands  of  any  one 
individual.  The  blow  was  not  aimed '  at 
tyranny  or  wealth.  It  was  aimed  at  one 
of  the  strongest  champions  the  wage-worker 
has  ever  had  ;  at  one  of  the  most  faithful 
representatives  of  the  system  of  public  rights 
and  representative  government  who  has  ever 
risen  to  public  office. 

"  President  McKinley  filled  that  political 
office  for  which  the  entire  people  vote,  and 
no  President— not  even  Lincoln  himself— 
was  ever  more  earnestly  anxious  to  represent 
the  well-thought-out  wishes  of  the  people  ; 
his  one  anxiety  in  every  crisis  was  to  keep 
in  closest  touch  with  the  people,  to  find  out 
what  they  thought,  and  to  endeavor  to  give 
expression  to  their  thought,  after  having  en- 
deavored to  guide  that  thought  aright.  He 
had  just  been  re-elected  to  the  Presidency, 
because  the  majority  of  our  citizens,  the 
majority  of  our  farmers  and  wage-workers, 
believed  that  he  had  faithfully  upheld  their 
interests  for  four  years.  They  felt  them- 
selves in  close  and  intimate  touch  with  him. 
They  felt  that  he  represented  so  well  and 


232    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

so  honorably  all  their  ideals  and  aspirations 
that  they  wished  him  to  continue  for  an- 
other four  years  to  represent  them. 

"  And  this  was  the  man  at  whom  the  as- 
sassin struck  !  That  there  might  be  nothing 
lacking  to  complete  the  Judaslike  infamy  of 
his  act,  he  took  advantage  of  an  occasion 
when  the  President  was  meeting  the  people 
generally,  and,  advancing  as  if  to  take  the 
hand  outstretched  to  him  in  kindly  and 
brotherly  fellowship,  he  turned  the  noble 
and  generous  confidence  of  the  victim  into 
an  opportunity  to  strike  the  fatal  blow. 
There  is  no  baser  deed  in  all  the  annals  of 
crime. 

"  The  shock,  the  grief  of  the  country,  are 
bitter  in  the  minds  of  all  who  saw  the  dark 
days  while  the  President  yet  hovered  be- 
tween life  and  death.  At  last  the  light  was 
stilled  in  the  kindly  eyes,  and  the  breath 
went  from  the  lips  that  even  in  mortal  agony 
uttered  no  words  save  of  forgiveness  to  his 
murderer,  of  love  for  his  friends,  and  of  un- 
faltering trust  in  the  will  of  the  Most  High. 
Such  a  death,  crowning  the  glory  of  such  a 
life,  leaves  us  with  infinite  sorrow,  but  with 
such  pride  in  what  he  had  accomplished  and 
in  his  own  personal  character,  that  we  feel 
the  blow  not  as  struck  at  him,  but  as  struck 
at  the  Nation.  We  mourn  a  good  and  great 
President  who  is  dead ;  but  while  we  mourn 


A  NATIONAL  MENACE.  233 

we  are  lifted  up  by  the  splendid  achieve- 
ments of  his  life  and  the  grand  heroism  with 
which  he  met  his  death. 

"  When  we  turn  from  the  man  to  the 
Nation,  the  harm  done  is  so  great  as  to  ex- 
cite our  gravest  apprehensions,  and  to  de- 
mand our  wisest  and  most  resolute  action. 
This  criminal  was  a  professed  Anarchist, 
inflamed  by  the  teachings  of  professed  An- 
archists, and  probably  also  by  the  reckless 
utterances  of  those  who,  on  the  stump  and 
in  the  public  press,  appeal  to  the  dark  and 
evil  spirits  of  malice  and  greed,  envy  and 
sullen  hatred.  The  wind  is  sowed  by  the 
men  who  preach  such  doctrines,  and  they 
cannot  escape  their  share  of  responsibility 
for  the  whirlwind  that  is  reaped.  This  ap- 
plies alike  to  the  deliberate  demagogue,  to 
the  exploiter  of  sensationalism,  and  to  the 
crude  and  foolish  visionary  who,  for  what- 
ever reason,  apologizes  for  crime  or  excites 
aimless  discontent. 

"  The  blow  was  aimed  not  at  this  Presi- 
dent, but  at  all  Presidents  ;  at  every  symbol 
of  Government.  President  McKinley  was 
as  emphatically  the  embodiment  of  the  pop- 
ular will  of  the  Nation  expressed  through 
the  forms  of  law  as  a  New  England  town 
meeting  is  in  similar  fashion  the  embodi- 
ment of  the  law-abiding  purpose  and  prac- 
tice of  the  people  of  the  town.  On  no  con- 


234    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

ceivable  theory  could  the  murder  of  the 
President  be  accepted  as  due  to  protest 
against  '  inequalities  in  the  social  order,' 
save  as  the  murder  of  all  the  freemen  en- 
gaged in  a  town  meeting  could  be  accepted 
as  a  protest  against  that  social  inequality 
which  puts  a  malefactor  in  jail.  Anarchy  is 
no  more  an  expression  of  '  social  discontent ' 
than  picking  pockets  or  wife  beating. 

"The  Anarchist,  and  especially  the  An- 
archist in  the  United  States,  is  merely  one 
type  of  criminal,  more  dangerous  than  any 
other  because  he  represents  the  same  de- 
pravity in  a  greater  degree.  The  man  who 
advocates  Anarchy,  directly  or  indirectly,  in 
any  shape  or  fashion,  or  the  man  who  apolo- 
gizes for  Anarchists  and  their  deeds,  makes 
himself  morally  accessory  to  murder  before 
the  fact.  The  Anarchist  is  a  criminal  whose 
perverted  instincts  lead  him  to  prefer  confu- 
sion and  chaos  to  the  most  beneficent  form 
of  social  order.  His  protest  of  concern  for 
workingmen  is  outrageous  in  its  impudent 
falsity ;  for  if  the  political  institutions  of 
this  country  do  not  afford  opportunity  to 
every  honest  and  intelligent  son  of  toil,  then 
the  door  of  hope  is  forever  closed  against 
him.  The  Anarchist  is  everywhere  not 
merely  the  enemy  of  system  and  of  progress, 
but  the  deadly  foe  of  liberty.  If  ever 
Anarchy  is  triumphant,  its  triumph  will  last 


A  NATIONAL  MENACE.  235 

for  but  one  red  moment,  to  be  succeeded 
for  ages  by  the  gloomy  night  of  despotism. 

41  For  the  Anarchist  himself,  whether  he 
preaches  or  practices  his  doctrines,  we  need 
not  have  one  particle  more  concern  than 
for  any  ordinary  murderer.  He  is  not  the 
victim  of  social  or  political  injustice.  There 
are  no  wrongs  to  remedy  in  his  case.  The 
cause  of  his  criminality  is  to  be  found  in  his 
own  evil  passions,  and  in  the  evil  conduct  of 
those  who  urge  him  on,  not  in  any  failure  by 
others  or  by  the  State  to  do  justice  to  him 
or  his.  He  is  a  malefactor,  and  nothing  else. 
He  is  in  no  sense,  in  no  shape  or  way,  a 
'  product  of  social  conditions/  save  as  a 
highwayman  is  '  produced '  by  the  fact  that 
an  unarmed  man  happens  to  have  a  purse. 
It  is  a  travesty  upon  the  great  and  holy 
names  of  liberty  and  freedom  to  permit 
them  to  be  invoked  in  such  a  cause.  No 
man  or  body  of  men  preaching  Anarchistic 
doctrines  should  be  allowed  at  large  any 
more  than  if  preaching  the  murder  of  some 
specified  private  individual.  Anarchistic 
speeches,  writings  and  meetings  are  essen- 
tially seditious  and  treasonable. 

11 1  earnestly  recommend  to  the  Congress 
that  in  the  exercise  of  its  wise  discretion  it 
should  take  into  consideration  the  coming 
to  this  country  of  Anarchists  or  persons 
professing  principles  hostile  to  all  Govern- 


236    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

ment  and  justifying  the  murder  of  those 
placed  in  authority.  Such  individuals  as 
those  who  not  long  ago  gathered  in  open 
meeting  to  glorify  the  murder  of  King 
Humbert  of  Italy  perpetrate  a  crime,  and 
the  law  should  insure  their  rigorous  punish- 
ment. They  and  those  like  them  should  be 
kept  out  of  this  country  ;  and  if  found  here 
they  should  be  promptly  deported  to  the 
country  whence  they  came ;  and  far-reach- 
ing provision  should  be  made  for  the  punish- 
ment of  those  who  stay.  No  matter  calls 
more  urgently  for  the  wisest  thought  of  the 
Congress. 

"The  Federal  courts  should  be  given 
jurisdiction  over  any  man  who  kills  or  at- 
tempts to  kill  the  President,  or  any  man  who, 
by  the  Constitution  or  by  law,  is  in  line  of 
succession  for  the  Presidency,  while  the 
punishment  for  an  unsuccessful  attempt 
should  be  proportioned  to  the  enormity  of 
the  offence  against  our  institutions. 

"  Anarchy  is  a  crime  against  the  whole 
human  race,  and  all  mankind  should  band 
against  the  Anarchist.  His  crime  should  be 
made  an  offence  against  the  law  of  Nations, 
like  piracy,  and  that  form  of  manstealing 
known  as  the  slave  trade  ;  for  it  is  of  far 
blacker  infamy  than  either.  It  should  be  so 
declared  by  treaties  among  all  civilized 
powers.  Such  treaties  would  give  to  the 


A  NATIONAL  MENACE.  237 

Federal  government  the  power  of  dealing 
with  the  crime. 

"  A  grim  commentary  upon  the  folly  of 
the  Anarchist  position  was  afforded  by  the 
attitude  of  the  law  toward  this  very  criminal 
who  had  just  taken  the  life  of  the  President. 
The  people  would  have  torn  him  limb  from 
limb  had  it  not  been  that  the  law  he  defied 
was  at  once  invoked  in  his  behalf.  So  far 
from  his  deed  being  committed  on  behalf  of 
the  people  against  the  Government,  the 
Government  was  obliged  at  once  to  exert  its 
full  police  power  to  save  him  from  instant 
death  at  the  hands  of  the  people.  More- 
over, his  deed  worked  not  the  slightest 
dislocation  in  our  Governmental  system,  and 
the  danger  of  a  recurrence  of  such  deeds,  no 
matter  how  great  it  might  grow,  would  work 
only  in  the  direction  of  strengthening  and 
giving  harshness  to  the  forces  of  order.  No 
man  will  ever  be  restrained  from  becoming 
President  by  any  fear  as  to  his  personal 
safety.  If  the  risk  to  the  President's  life 
became  great,  it  would  mean  that  the  office 
would  more  and  more  come  to  be  filled  by 
men  of  a  spirit  which  would  make  them 
resolute  and  merciless  in  dealing  with  every 
friend  of  disorder.  This  great  country  will 
not  fall  into  Anarchy,  and  if  Anarchists 
should  ever  become  a  serious  menace  to  its 
institutions  they  would  not  merely  be 


238    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

stamped  out,  but  would  involve  in  their 
ruin  every  active  or  passive  sympathizer 
with  their  doctrines.  The  American  people 
are  slow  to  wrath,  but  when  their  wrath  is 
once  kindled,  it  burns  like  a  consuming 
flame." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

A  SQUARE   DEAL. 

THE  young  man  who,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
four  years,  stood  up  alone,  and  in  the  face  of 
ridicule,  taunts  and  jeers,  insisted  in  the 
New  York  Legislature  that  the  scandalous 
charges  against  prominent  officials  should  be 
probed  to  the  bottom;  who  compelled  the 
recognition  of  the  splendid  merits  of  Civil 
Service  Reform;  who,  as  Police  Commis- 
sioner of  the  metropolis  of  our  country,  en- 
forced for  the  first  time  the  laws  on  the 
statute  books  and  gained  the  respect  of  the 
police  and  the  foes  of  the  measures;  who 
faced  death  a  score  of  times  in  pestilent 
Cuba;  who,  as  Governor,  ruled  the  Empire 
State  by  the  Ten  Commandments,— who  had 
proved  his  unshakable  integrity  and  his  res- 
olution that  every  one,  high  and  low,  should 
have  a  square  deal; — this  young  man  was 
now  President  of  the  United  States. 

And  he  was  the  same  as  at  the  beginning, 
except  that  he  had  grown  mentally,  in  knowl- 
edge, in  judgment,  in  tact  and  in  statesman- 
ship. A  political  opponent,  in  answer  to  the 
charge  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  a  demagogue, 
239 


240    PROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE 

said  in  the  London  Times :  "  If  it  is  meant 
to  say  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  one  who  seeks  popu- 
lar favor  at  the  expense  of  honest  convic- 
tion, it  is  a  very  unjust  characterization. 
The  quality  which,  above  all  others,  makes 
Theodore  Roosevelt  the  strongest  individu- 
ality in  America  to-day,  is  his  absolute  sin- 
cerity in  dealing  with  public  questions  and 
his  unfeigned  indifference  to  what  others 
may  think  or  say  with  regard  to  his  course  in 
discharging  his  official  duties.  He  is  the 
personification  of  courage,  truth  and  manli- 
ness, and  is  a  clean,  straight  man  in  all  rela- 
tions of  life.  When  he  was  President  of 
the  Board  of  Police  Commissioners  of  New 
York  City,  he  compelled  a  strict  enforce- 
ment of  the  excise  and  other  laws,  and  this 
incurred  the  bitter  enmity  of  the  element 
that  controlled  votes.  When  the  Spanish 
war  came  on,  and  his  regiment  was  filled  so 
promptly  by  the  best  righting  material  in  the 
States,  he  asked  the  President  to  appoint  to 
its  command  an  unknown  assistant  surgeon 
in  the  army  who  had  had  experience  as  a 
soldier,  and  whose  talents  and  ability  he  had 
learned  to  appreciate.  He  took  a  subor- 
dinate place  himself,  but  his  judgment  has 
been  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  his  selection 
is  now  a  major-general  and  the  able  and 
accomplished  Military  Governor  of  Cuba 
(1898).  These  were  not  the  acts  of  a  dema- 


A  SQUARE  DEAL.  34; 

gogue,  but  of  a  faithful  and  patriotic  citizen, 
who  preferred  the  public  good  to  his  own 
selfish  interests.  He  despises  all  trickery 
and  sham,  and  is  strong  enough  to  lead  with- 
out resorting  to  any  base  or  unworthy  prac- 
tices. My  testimony  is  not  that  of  a  partisan 
• — I  know  the  President  personally,  but  we 
were  trained  in  different  political  schools. 
Whilst  he  was  a  Republican  member  of  the 
Civil  Service  Commission  at  Washington,  I 
was  a  Democratic  Congressman.  He  be- 
lieves in  party  organization  as  a  means  of 
carrying  out  the  principles  which  he  thinks 
should  be  observed  in  administering  the 
Government,  but  has  never  been  narrow  or 
bitter  in  dealing  with  political  opponents. 
He  is  the  first  President  we  have  had  in 
forty  years  whose  views  are  uncolored  by 
personal  experiences  or  observation  during 
the  Civil  War,  and  is  emphatically  the 
product  of  a  new  era  in  American  politics. 
He  did  not  want  the  nomination  for  the 
Vice-Presidency  last  year,  as  he  had  his  heart 
set  on  seeing  completed  work  which  he 
had  begun  as  Governor  of  New  York.  He 
is  hampered  by  no  pledges,  has  no  especial 
favorites  to  reward  or  enemies  to  punish,  and 
is  controlled  by  no  clique  or  ring  or  boss. 
He  has  been  a  voluminous  writer,  but  has 
dealt  with  no  theories,  and  is  therefore  com- 
mitted to  no  peculiar  politics.  In  writing 
16 


24:2   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

the  history  of  the  Winning  of  the  West,  or 
of  his  own  Rough  Riders,  or  of  his  hunting 
adventures,  he  has  always  dealt  with  action. 
He  has  never  been  a  dreamer  or  a  poet  or  a 
philosopher,  but  an  earnest,  practical  man  of 
affairs,  who  takes  the  world  as  it  is  and  tries 
to  make  it  better  by  what  he  does,  not  by 
what  he  preaches.  I  have  several  times 
seen  it  stated  that  because  the  family  whose 
name  he  bears  came  from  Holland,  he  may 
take  sides  with  the  Boers  against  England. 
This  will  not  be  given  much  consideration 
when  it  is  known  that  his  ancestors  were 
three-fourths  British  and  not  exceeding  one- 
fourth  Dutch,  and  that  he  is  altogether 
American.  Nor  is  he  a  man  to  forget  how 
generously  Great  Britain  treated  his  country 
during  the  Spanish  War,  in  which  he  bore 
so  heroic  a  part.  He  has  enough  of  care  and 
responsibility  as  chief  executive  of  the  United 
States  without  interfering  in  any  respect 
with  the  affairs  of  other  countries." 

Now,  the  rule  is  that  every  writer  who 
attempts  to  treat,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
of  the  life  of  a  public  man,  shall  pronounce 
judgment  upon  his  public  acts.  The  writer 
is  supposed  to  possess  superior  judgment  to 
that  of  his  subject;  he  is  expected  to  point 
out  the  mistakes  of  his  hero,  to  show  how 
much  better  it  would  have  been  had  he 
adopted  another  policy,  and  to  regret  that  he 


A  SQUARE  DEAL.  243 

fell  short  at  certain  stages.  The  biographer 
is  the  schoolteacher,  who  arrives  on  the 
ground  after  his  pupil  has  left  school,  and  is 
therefore  beyond  his  control.  It  is  lament- 
able, but  the  mischief  having  been  done,  the 
sagacious  instructor  makes  it  all  clear  for  the 
benefit  of  others. 

One  indisputable  truth,  however,  should 
be  borne  in  mind  :  the  subject  of  all  these 
criticisms  probably  knows  ten  times  more 
about  the  matters  criticised  and  his  own 
policy  than  do  his  critics.  He  is  familiar 
with  all  the  conditions,  many  of  which  are 
unknown  to  the  public,  he  is  in  the  best  sit- 
uation of  any  man  in  the  world  to  form  cor- 
rect judgments,  and  with  his  ability,  training 
and  experience,  the  chances  are  vastly  in 
favor  of  his  being  right,  when  we,  with  our 
imperfect  knowledge,  think  he  is  wrong. 
There  have  been  acts  of  President  Roosevelt 
which  impressed  many  of  us  as  ill-advised, 
and  we  wondered  why  he  did  not  do  differ- 
ently. None  the  less,  we  could  never  escape 
the  conviction  that  he  knew  a  good  deal 
more  about  the  matter  than  any  of  us  could 
know,  and  we  decided  to  await  the  verdict  of 
time.  Meanwhile,  we  would  trust  him.  The 
country  had  managed  thus  far  to  get  on  very 
well  without  our  help,  and  it  was  fair  to  be- 
lieve that  it  could  gontiriue  to  limp  forward 
without  such  aid. 


244    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

It  often  looked  during  the  War  for  the 
Union,  as  if  the  only  men  who  did  not 
know  how  to  carry  it  through  to  a  success- 
ful conclusion  were  the  military  leaders  who 
performed  the  task.  All  the  newspapers 
persistently  instructed  them  in  their  duties, 
and  vehemently  condemned  the  government 
for  ignoring  their  counsel.  In  one  instance, 
President  Lincoln  yielded  to  the  newspaper 
clamor  "  On  to  Richmond,"  and  as  a  result 
the  most  humiliating  Union  defeat  of  the 
war  followed. 

In  hundreds  of  grocery  stores,  country 
taverns  and  loafing  places,  crowds  of  men, 
who  had  never  shouldered  a  musket  or 
heard  the  tap  of  a  drum,  or  seen  a  body  of 
troops,  agreed  that  the  country  was  going  to 
the  dogs,  because  the  authorities  at  Wash- 
ington were  totally  unfit  to  direct  military 
affairs,  kept  in  place  incompetent  officers 
and  failed  to  do  what  the  critics  declared 
were  the  simplest  dictates  of  common  sense. 
At  one  of  these  places,  a  barefooted,  freckle- 
faced  urchin  stood  leaning  against  the  coun- 
ter, listening  with  open-mouthed  wonder  to 
the  endless  criticisms.  The  spokesman  was 
demonstrating  with  pen  and  pencil,  how 
"  Little  Mac  "  ought  to  have  swung  his  army 
round  to  the  rear  and  gobbled  up  the  whole 
rebel  army,  captured  General  Lee  and  com- 
pelled peace  within  thirty  days.  The  list- 


A  SQUARE  DEAL.  245 

eners  gravely  nodded  their  heads  and 
admitted  that  little  or  nothing  was  to  be 
hoped,  so  long  as  we  had  a  blind  President 
at  the  head  of  affairs.  Then  upspake  the 
urchin  : 

"  Say,  why  don't  you  fellers  go  down  to 
Washington  and  take  charge  of  things  your- 
selves ?  " 

The  spokesman  of  the  critics  angrily  sug- 
gested to  the  impudent  youngster  that  it  was 
time  he  went  home  and  attended  to  the 
chores  for  his  mother.  The  urchin  went 
and  thenceforward  was  made  to  understand 
that  he  was  persona  non  grata  with  that 
particular  group  of  wise  men. 

The  significance  of  this  incident  is  that 
since  we  have  reached  the  period  when 
Theodore  Roosevelt  had  become  President 
of  the  greatest  republic  in  the  world,  we 
shall  refrain  from  any  attempt  to  sit  in  judg- 
ment upon  his  public  policy.  We  have 
made  a  mild  criticism  or  two,  but  shall  do 
so  no  more  ;  for,  as  we  have  said,  we  cannot 
escape  the  conviction  that  the  subject  of 
such  criticism  knows  a  mighty  sight  more 
about  the  matters  under  consideration  than 
we  or  any  one  else  will  know  for  a  consider- 
able time  to  come, 

But,  if  we  cannot  condemn,  neither  can 
we  refrain  from  commending  certain  acts  of 
the  President,  which  were  so  unconven 


24:6    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

tional  that  it  may  be  doubted  whether  any 
of  his  predecessors  would  have  acted  as  he 
did.  Every  one  knows  of  the  horrible  out- 
rages to  which  the  Jews  have  been  subjected 
in  Russia.  The  crimes  repeatedly  commit- 
ted against  them  have  not  been  surpassed  in 
ferocity  by  the  Apaches  of  the  Southwest. 
During  the  Easter  season  in  1903,  these 
people  at  Kishenev  were  assailed  by  infuri- 
ated mobs,  and  men,  women  and  children 
were  subjected  to  horrifying  barbarities.  So 
diabolical  indeed  were  the  crimes  committed 
that  the  local  authorities  suppressed  the 
news  and  the  outside  world  knew  nothing 
of  them  until  a  few  of  the  wretched  survivors 
reached  this  country  and  told  the  truth. 
The  unstable  Czar  was  ignorant  until  the 
tidings  went  back  across  the  ocean  to  him. 
Even  he  was  shocked,  and  it  is  only  fair  to 
say  that  he  took  measures  to  punish  the  ring- 
leaders, and  removed  the  governor  of  the 
province  who  had  winked  at  the  massacres. 
The  Jews  of  western  Europe  and  of  the 
United  States  were  incensed,  and  insisted 
that  their  respective  governments  should 
make  protest  to  Russia,  chiefly  to  prevent  a 
repetition  of  the  outrages,  which  was  almost 
certain  to  take  place.  As  a  means  of  suc- 
cess, memorials  were  drawn  up  and  signed 
by  people  of  all  religions,  with  the  view  of 
having  them  presented  through  the  usual 


A  SQUARE  DEAL.  247 

diplomatic  channels  to  the  court  at  St.  Pe- 
tersburg. Such  action  was  displeasing  to 
the  Russian  government,  and  it  conveyed 
an  intimation  to  this  country  among  others 
that  the  protests  would  not  be  received  from 
any  source,  relating  to  a  matter  that  was  ex- 
clusively a  domestic  interest.  This  hint  was 
enough  for  the  European  governments, 
which  immediately  dropped  the  subject. 
But  it  was  otherwise  with  President  Roose- 
velt. When  the  Russian  ambassador  failed 
to  put  in  official  form  the  intimation  inform- 
ally thrown  out,  he  told  the  Jews  that  he 
would  do  his  best  to  have  the  matter  brought 
before  the  Czar.  Soon  after  the  memorial, 
signed  by  the  foremost  clergymen,  educators, 
public  officials  and  citizens  in  the  country, 
was  placed  in  the  President's  hands. 

The  great  task  remained  to  get  the  paper 
before  the  Russian  Emperor.  Europe  was 
amazed  at  our  "  nerve."  Some  of  the  press 
believed  that  the  Czar  would  be  so  affronted 
at  what  he  must  regard  as  an  insult,  that 
diplomatic  relations  would  be  suspended, 
with  the  possibility  of  war,  in  the  near  future. 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  cleverness  with 
which  the  delicate  matter  was  handled  by 
our  government.  Secretary  Hay  instructed 
our  representative  at  the  Russian  court  to 
inquire  whether  that  government  would  re- 
ceive the  memorial.  This  letter  of  instruc- 


248    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

tions  contained  the  full  text  of  the  memorial, 
so  that  in  making  his  inquiry,  our  charge 
got  the  all-important  document  itself  before 
the  Russian  government.  All  that  President 
Roosevelt  set  out  to  do  having  been  done, 
he  was  prepared  to  accept  with  equanimity 
the  refusal  of  the  court  to  receive  the  me- 
morial. And  all  this  had  been  accomplished 
without  a  shadow  of  offence  to  the  Russian 
government.  Moreover,  though  the  protest 
has  not  wholly  stayed  the  hands  of  the  per- 
secutors of  Jews,  it  certainly  has  done  a  good 
deal  in  that  direction. 

The  negro  has  been  for  years,  as  he  doubt- 
less will  continue  to  be  for  years  to  come,  a 
disturbing  element  in  American  politics. 
Francis  E.  Leupp,  after  a  frank  talk  with 
President  Roosevelt  on  the  question  of 
Southern  patronage,  wrote  to  the  New  York 
Evening  Post  : 

"  The  President,  as  a  man  who  believes  in 
parties,  will  prefer  Republicans  to  Demo- 
crats, and  strong  party  men  to  those  who  are 
uncertain  and  indifferent.  But  if  it  came  to 
a  question  between  an  unfit  Republican  and 
a  fit  Democrat,  he  would  not  hesitate  a  mo- 
ment to  choose  the  Democrat.  It  has  always 
been  Mr.  Roosevelt's  desire  to  see  the  South 
back  in  full  communion  with  the  other  sec- 
tions in  conducting  the  national  government, 
instead  of  standing  on  the  outside  whenever 


A  SQUARE  DEAL.  349 

a  Republican  administration  is  installed  at 
Washington.  This  is  not  the  case  with  any 
other  section,  and  he  would  take  great  pride 
in  breaking  up  the  South. 

"  And  the  negro  ?  He  must  take  the 
chances  like  the  rest.  If  he  be  a  man  who 
has  earned  the  respect  of  his  white  neighbors 
by  his  efforts  to  be  a  good  citizen,  by  avoid- 
ing disreputable  associations  and  trying  to 
be  helpful  in  the  community  where  he  lives, 
he  has  nothing  to  fear  from  President  Roose- 
velt because  of  his  color  ;  but  if  he  has  led 
a  loose  life,  ignored  his  obligations  to  his 
fellow-men  individually  and  to  society  and 
the  law,  he  will  have  no  favor  whatever  be- 
cause he  is  black  or  because  he  is  a  Repub- 
lican. The  standard  of  personal  character 
and  civic  virtue  which  the  President  will  set 
up  for  the  negro's  emulation  is  better  em- 
bodied in  Booker  T.  Washington  than  in 
any  other  man  of  color  known  to  the  public. 
By  this  measure  every  negro  who  aspires  to 
office  will  be  tested.  By  the  degree  in  which 
he  approaches  or  falls  short  of  it  he  will  be 
judged  fit  or  unfit. 

As  illustrative  of  the  President's  tact,  the 
Indianola  affair  may  be  recalled.  For  several 
years  the  postmistress  at  Indianola,  Missis- 
sippi, had  been  a  colored  woman,  named 
Mrs.  Cox.  Nothing  was  ever  said  against 
her  character,  or  her  conduct  of  the  office. 


250    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

But  the  wave  of  race  prejudice  rises  and 
falls  in  some  sections  of  the  South  and  the 
hour  came  in  the  winter  of  1901-02,  when  a 
mob  threatened  Mrs.  Cox's  life  unless  she 
gave  up  the  office.  She  knew  that  such 
threats  if  disregarded,  meant  the  deaths  in 
all  probability  of  herself  and  family.  So  she 
sent  her  resignation  to  Washington  and  with 
her  children  left  the  town. 

The  news  of  the  outrage  naturally  caused 
great  excitement  throughout  the  country, 
and  the  national  authorities  were  stirred. 
Postmaster-General  Henry  C.  Payne  thought 
the  majesty  of  our  government  should  be 
vindicated,  and  that  the  postmistress  should 
be  escorted  back  to  Indianola  by  a  military 
guard,  which  should  protect  her  in  the 
conduct  of  her  office.  The  President  shared 
in  the  indignation,  and  had  it  been  necessary 
he  would  have  taken  such  a  radical  course. 
But  another  method  equally  effective  pre- 
sented itself,  and  parried  the  raising  of  all 
constitutional  questions.  He  ordered  the 
post-office  closed.  This  was  done  and  the 
people  who  had  made  life  intolerable  for  the 
postmistress,  now  had  to  go  five  miles  to  get 
their  mail  from  another  office. 

But  dating  beyond  the  negro  was  the 
Indian.  He  is  the  original  American,  and 
our  forefathers  found  he  -had  been  on  the 
ground  for  many  long  centuries  before  the 


A  SQUARE  DEAL.  251 

white  man  dreamed  of  the  existence  of  a 
western  continent.  The  same  forefathers 
straightway  began  a  system  of  robbery,  mal- 
treatment and  murder  of  the  red  men,  who 
had  no  rights  which  their  persecutors  felt 
themselves  bound  to  respect.  The  descend- 
ants of  the  same  forefathers  have  rigorously 
carried  out  that  policy  ever  since,  with  the 
inevitable  result  of  countless  massacres  by 
the  Indians,  in  which  the  law  has  prevailed 
that  the  innocent  suffer  for  the  crimes  of  the 
guilty. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  Indian 
question.  Upon  that,  as  upon  all  others, 
President  Roosevelt  holds  decided  views. 
He  does  not  believe  in  feeding,  and  support- 
ing the  Indians  in  idleness.  There  is  no 
reason  why  they  should  not  work  as  their 
Anglo-Saxon  brothers  do.  The  vast  irriga- 
tion projects  that  our  government  is  con- 
structing in  many  parts  of  the  West  offer  a 
fine  chance  for  a  practical  test  of  his  belief 
that  the  Indian  can  be  made  a  self-supporting, 
citizen. 

Not  long  since  we  should  have  smiled 
grimly  at  the  proposal  to  turn  the  Apache 
into  a  good,  everyday  laborer.  When  we 
think  of  that  most  terrible  tribe  on  the  con- 
tinent, we  recall  Geronimo,  Cochise,  Mangus 
and  other  leaders  who  swept  through  the 
Southwest,  like  the  demons  they  were,  leav- 


,252    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

ing  a  trail  of  fire  and  blood  behind  them.  It 
seems  grotesque  to  picture  them  toiling  like 
the  Italians  and  Celts  on  our  public  streets 
or  buildings  or  works.  But  at  this  writing, 
the  American  engineers  are  working  a  small 
army  of  Apaches  in  Arizona,  in  construct- 
ing mountain  roads  and  digging  ditches 
and  canals.  These  dusky  toilers  are  the 
same  men  who  raided  with  Geronimo, 
and  the  hands  of  many  of  them  have  been 
crimsoned  by  the  blood  of  fathers,  mothers 
and  babes.  Not  only  are  they  working 
regularly,  but,  incredible  as  it  may  seem, 
their  overseers  declare  that  they  are  bet- 
ter and  more  satisfactory  workmen  than 
the  ordinary  laborers.  Hundreds  of  Nava- 
jos,  Pimas,  and  Pueblos  are  employed  on 
similar  works,  not  only  in  Arizona,  but  else- 
where. The  railroads  give  employment  to  a 
large  number.  In  Colorado  the  sugar  beet 
planters  depend  more  and  more  each  j^ear 
upon  the  help  of  the  aborigines.  During 
the  hop-picking  season  in  Oregon  and  Wash- 
ington, numerous  families  of  Indians  move 
from  field  to  field  until  all  the  crop  is  gath- 
ered. Over  the  entire  western  country,  the 
army  of  dusky  laborers  is  growing  rapidly 
each  year,  and  the  practical  wisdom  of  Pres- 
ident Roosevelt's  views  has  already  been 
amply  demonstrated. 

The  readiness  of  the  President  to  act  when 


A  SQUARE  DEAL.  253 

:t  is  his  duty  to  do  so  was  shown  during  the 
bloody  strikes  among  the  Arizona  miners  in 
1903.  These  became  so  serious  that  the 
Governor  notified  the  President  that  the 
civil  authorities  were  no  longer  able  to  con- 
trol the  mob.  Within  the  same  half  hour 
in  which  this  despatch  was  received,  a  de- 
tachment of  United  States  troops  was  hurry  ^ 
ing  to  the  scene  of  disorder. 

Many  conservative  persons  and  papers 
friendly  to  Mr.  Roosevelt,  condemned  his 
course  during  the  strike  of  the  anthracite 
coal  miners  of  Pennsylvania  in  1902.  They 
thought  he  was  stepping  outside  of  his  high 
office,  and  that  constitutionally  he  could  take 
no  cognizance  of  the  unfortunate  state  of  af- 
fairs, whose  burdensome  effect  soon  made 
itself  felt  throughout  most  of  the  Union.  As 
a  rule,  the  specially  ill  results  of  a  strike  are 
not  wide-spreading.  Some  inconveniences 
may  be  caused  in  a  greater  or  less  degree 
at  a  distance,  but  the  chief  evil  is  inflicted 
at  home.  But  here  was  a  condition  from 
which  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  every 
one  in  the  North  suffered.  Coal  has  be- 
come a  necessity.  Not  only  did  its  price 
double  and  triple,  but  in  many  instances  it 
could  not  be  obtained  at  all.  The  day 
seemed  near  at  hand  when  not  a  pound 
would  be  mined  of  the  deposit  of  millions  of 
tons,  and  with  winter  at  hand,  one  shuddered 


£54    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

to  think  of  the  suffering  and  death  that  must 
follow. 

The  deadlock  between  the  employers  and 
the  miners  remained  unbroken.  A  promi- 
nent authority  said  that  within  a  month  coal 
would  become  as  much  of  a  necessity  for  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  States  north  of  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line  as  food  or  milk  or  water, 
and  those  who  stood  in  the  way  of  its  supply 
at  reasonable  rates  were  the  enemies  of  all 
the  people,  with  a  criminality  nothing  short 
of  murder.  Urgent  telegrams  were  sent  to 
the  President  by  the  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts, the  Mayors  of  New  York,  Chicago 
and  Detroit  and  by  the  New  York  Board  of 
Trade.  Most  of  these  had  remedies  to  sug- 
gest, some  of  which  were  revolutionary  in 
character.  What  seemed  the  most  feasible 
plan  was  for  the  government  to  seize  the 
coal  mines  under  its  right  of  eminent  do- 
main. The  more  conservative  saw  the  grave 
peril  in  such  a  step.  None  the  less  every 
one  was  insistent  that  the  situation  was  fast 
becoming  so  unbearable  that  some  means, 
must  be  found  of  ending  it  without  delay. 

The  alarm  was  profound.  Mayor  Low 
said  in  his  telegram  that  the  existing  situa- 
tion did  immense  injustice  to  millions  of  in- 
nocent people  and  the  welfare  of  a  large 
section  of  the  country  demanded  the  imme- 
diate rsgumptiqri  of  anthracite  coal  mining. 


A  SQUARE  DEAL.  255 

The  Governor  of  Massachusetts  went  to 
Washington  to  plead  the  cause  of  the  eastern 
cities,  where  the  peril  would  soon  become 
overwhelming.  It  is  conceded  that  the 
crisis  that  had  come  so  unexpectedly  upon 
the  country  was  more  dangerous  than  any 
that  had  occurred  since  the  civil  war. 

Amid  all  the  din,  organized  capital  stood 
inflexibly  upon  its  rights.  It  owned  the 
mines,  it  refused  to  yield  to  the  demands  of 
the  strikers,  and  bade  defiance  to  any  outside 
interference.  In  all  his  "  strenuous  "  career, 
President  Roosevelt  was  never  confronted 
by  a  more  trying  problem.  He  was  as  reso- 
lute as  ever  to  do  right,  but,  how  was  he  to 
know  what  was  right  ? 

It  would  seem  that  the  most  obvious 
remedy  would  be  to  convene  Congress  in 
extraordinary  session,  and  throw  the  re- 
sponsibility upon  that  body.  But  does  any 
one  need  to  be  told  what  the  result  would 
have  been  ?  Nearly  every  member  would 
have  hurried  to  Washington,  loaded  and 
primed  with  a  panacea  for  the  evil  ;  some 
would  have  come  as  the  mouthpieces  of  labor 
organizations  ;  others  would  have  represent- 
ed capital,  and  wrangling  would  have  made 
clear,  clean  cut,  sensible  action  an  impossi- 
bility. A  timid  President  or  a  demagogue 
would  have  waited  for  the  regular  assem- 
bling of  Congress,  and  let  it  wrestle  with  the 


256    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

problem.  But  Congress  would  not  convene 
until  December,  and  before  that  time,  the 
Northern  States  would  be  in  the  depths  of  a 
coalless  winter. 

The  right  thing  to  do,  as  it  seemed  to  the 
President,  was  to  organize  a  board  of  arbitra 
tion,  composed  of  members  who  would  com- 
mand the  respect  of  the  country  and  the 
confidence  of  the  miners  and  their  em- 
ployers. He  consulted  with  the  most  emi- 
nent lawyers,  and  they  told  him  that  his 
authority  to  organize  such  a  board  was  very 
doubtful.  Indeed  they  did  not  believe  that 
the  warrant  existed.  They  asked  him  what 
assurance  he  could  have  that  Congress  would 
sanction  his  action,  or  that  it  would  vote 
money  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  arbitra- 
tion ;  and  that  the  parties  concerned  would 
carry  out  the  award  of  the  commission  when 
it  should  be  made. 

All  these  objections  were  formidable,  but, 
if  the  first  could  be  overcome,  little  difficulty 
was  likely  to  be  met  with  the  others.  In- 
stead, therefore,  of  convening  Congress,  the 
President  called  the  leaders  on  both  sides  to 
Washington.  He  consulted  frankly,  listened 
to  their  arguments  and  stated  his  own  views 
with  his  usual  force  and  clearness.  He 
knew  that  whatever  these  representative 
men  agreed  upon,  Congress  would  not  dare 
to  refuse  to  ratify.  The  composition  of  the 


A  SQUAEE  DEAL.  357 

Commission  was  fixed,  and,  as  the  first  in- 
dispensable step,  the  President  would  pledge 
all  the  parties  in  interest  to  accept  and  ful- 
fill the  decree  of  the  arbitrators. 

This  plan  was  carried  out  in  spirit  and 
letter.  One  of  the  most  crushing  calamities 
that  could  overtake  this  country  was  averted. 
The  President  was  condemned  for  what 
many  declared  was  a  complete  surrender  to 
labor.  What  higher  tribute  can  be  made  to 
his  moral  heroism  than  the  fact  that  when 
he  acted  as  he  did,  he  felt  absolutely  certain 
that  it  meant  the  end  of  his  political  career  ? 
What  man  could  have  measured  up  to  such 
a  demand  upon  the  best  part  of  his  nature  ? 
It  was  again  the  question — What  is  right  for 
me  to  do  ?  And  having  settled  the  question 
with  his  conscience,  he  did  not  hesitate. 
The  belief  that  he  had  made  an  eternal 
enemy  of  capital  and  committed  political 
hari  kari  was  one  of  the  mistakes  which 
Theodore  Roosevelt  has  made  in  the  course 
of  his  life. 

In  his  address  at  Sioux  Falls,  South  Da- 
kota, in  April,  1903,  the  President  referred 
to  this  Commission  in  the  following  words  : 
"  The  coal  strike  in  the  anthracite  regions 
threatened  our  nation  with  a  disaster  second 
to  none  which  has  befallen  us  since  the  days 
of  the  Civil  War.  Their  report  was  made 
just  before  the  Senate  adjourned  at  the 
J7 


258   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

special  session  ;  and  no  government  docu- 
ment of  recent  years  marks  a  more  impor- 
tant piece  of  work  better  done,  and  there  is 
none  which  teaches  sounder  social  morality 
to  our  people.  The  Commission  consisted 
of  seven  as  good  men  as  were  to  be  found 
in  the  country,  representing  the  bench,  the 
Church,  the  army,  the  professions,  the  em- 
ployers and  the  employed.  They  acted  as 
a  unit,  and  the  report  which  they  unani- 
mously signed  is  a  masterpiece  of  com- 
mon sense  and  sound  doctrine  on  the  very 
question  with  which  our  people  should  most 
deeply  concern  themselves.  The  immediate 
effect  of  the  Commission's  appointment  and 
action  was  of  vast  and  incalculable  benefit 
to  the  nation  ;  bat  the  ultimate  effect  will  be 
even  better,  if  capitalist,  wage-worker,  and 
lawmaker  alike  will  take  to  heart  and  act 
upon  the  lessons  set  forth  in  the  report  they 
have  made." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE   MAN  OF  PEACE. 

EVERY  one  ardently  hopes  and  prays  for 
the  hastening  of  the  day  when  nations  shall 
go  to  war  no  more,  and  the  whole  world 
shall  be  at  peace.  It  is  beyond  compre- 
hension that  beings  created  in  the  image  of 
their  Creator  should  risk  and  sacrifice  their 
own  lives  in  trying  to  kill  one  another.  In 
the  nature  of  things,  there  has  never  been 
a  war  in  which  one"  party  was  not  blamable, 
and  in  most  cases  both  were  criminally 
guilty.  The  trend  of  all  civilized  peoples  is 
toward  the  peaceful  settlement  of  disputes, 
and  though  the  happy  era  is  a  long  time  in 
coming,  it  is  destined  to  reach  us  sooner  or 
later.  Then  indeed  will  dawn  the  millen- 
nium. 

It  seems  like  a  grim  irony  on  human  na- 
ture that  the  Czar  of  Russia  should  be  the 
originator  and  founder  of  The  Hague  Tribune 
of  peace, — the  body  whose  ostensible  object 
is  to  settle  the  quarrels  among  nations  not 
by  the  sword,  but  by  arbitration,  which 
should  be  the  court  of  resort  between  indi- 
259 


260   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

viduals,  as  well  as  by  great  powers.  It  did 
considerable  of  what  may  be  termed  pre- 
liminary work,  and  in  October,  1904,  Secre- 
tary of  State  Hay,  obeying  the  instructions 
of  the  President,  sent  a  note  to  the  American 
representatives  at  the  courts  of  the  govern- 
ments that  had  accepted  the  acts  of  The 
Hague  Conference  of  1899,  reciting  the 
great  work  done  by  that  council  of  nations, 
and  inviting  a  conference  of  the  signatory 
powers  for  the  disposal  of  such  questions  as 
had  been  left  over  by  the  former  sessions. 
Secretary  Hay  continued  as  follows  : 

"  On  the  24th  of  September,  ultimo,  these 
resolutions  were  presented  to  the  President 
by  a  numerous  deputation  of  the  Interpar- 
liamentary Union.  The  President  accepted 
the  charge  offered  him,  feeling  it  to  be  most 
appropriate  that  the  executive  of  the  nation 
which  had  welcomed  the  conference  to  its 
hospitality  should  give  voice  to  its  impres- 
sive utterances  in  a  cause  which  the  Amer- 
ican Government  and  people  hold  dear.  He 
announced  that  he  would  at  an  early  date 
invite  the  other  nations,  parties  to  The  Hague 
conventions,  to  reassemble,  with  a  view  to 
pushing  forward  toward  completion  the  work 
already  begun  at  The  Hague,  by  considering 
the  questions  which  the  first  conference  had 
left  unsettled,  with  the  express  provision 
that  there  should  be  a  second  conference, 


THE  MAN  OF  PEACE,  261 

"  In  accepting  this  trust  the  President 
was  not  unmindful  of  the  fact,  so  vividly 
brought  home  to  all  the  world,  that  a  great 
war  is  now  in  progress.  He  recalled  the 
circumstances  that  at  the  time  when,  on 
August  24,  1898,  His  Majesty  the  Emperor 
of  Russia  sent  forth  his  invitation  to  the  na- 
tions to  meet  in  the  interest  of  peace,  the 
United  States  and  Spain  had  merely  halted 
in  their  struggle  to  devise  terms  of  peace. 
While  at  the  present  moment  no  armistice 
between  the  parties  now  contending  is  in 
sight,  the  fact  of  an  existing  war  is  no  reason 
why  the  nations  should  relax  the  efforts 
they  have  so  successfully  made  hitherto 
toward  the  adoption  of  rules  of  conduct 
which  may  make  more  remote  the  chances 
of  future  wars  between  them.  In  1899  the 
conference  of  The  Hague  dealt  solely  with 
the  larger  general  problems  which  confronts 
all  nations,  and  assumed  no  function  of  in- 
tervention or  suggestion  in  the  settlement 
of  the  terms  of  peace  between  the  United 
States  and  Spain.  It  might  be  the  same 
with  a  reassembled  conference  at  the  present 
time.  Its  efforts  would  naturally  lie  in  the 
direction  of  further  codification  of  the  uni- 
versal ideas  of  right  and  justice  which  we 
call  international  law  ;  its  mission  would  be 
to  give  them  future  effect. 

"The   President   directs    that   you    will 


262   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

bring  the  foregoing  consideration  to  the 
attention  of  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs 
of  the  government  to  which  you  are  accred- 
ited, and  in  direct  conference  with  him, 
ascertain  to  what  extent  that  government  is 
disposed  to  act  in  the  matter. 

"  Should  his  Excellency  invite  suggestion 
as  to  the  character  of  the  questions  to  be 
brought  before  the  proposed  second  peace 
conference,  you  may  say  to  him  that  at  this 
time  it  would  seem  premature  to  couple  the 
tentative  invitation  thus  extended  with  a 
categorical  programme  of  subjects  of  discus- 
sion. It  is  only  by  comparison  of  views  that 
a  general  accord  can  be  reached  as  to  the 
matters  to  be  considered  by  the  new  con- 
ference. It  is  desirable  that  in  the  forma- 
tion of  a  programme  the  distinction  should 
be  kept  clear  between  the  matters  which 
belong  to  the  province  of  international  law 
and  those  which  are  conventional  as  between 
individual  governments.  The  final  act  of 
The  Hague  Conference,  dated  July  29, 1899, 
kept  the  distinction  clearly  in  sight.  Among 
the  broader  general  questions  affecting  the 
right  and  justice  of  the  relation  of  sovereign 
states  which  were  then  relegated  to  a  future 
conference  were  the  rights  and  duties  of 
neutrals,  the  inviolability  of  private  property 
in  naval  warfare,  and  the  bombardment  of 
ports,  towns  and  villages  by  a  naval  force. 


THE  MAN  OF  PEACE.  £63 

The  other  points  mentioned  in  the  final  act 
take  form  of  suggestions  for  consideration 
by  interested  governments. 

"The  three  points  mentioned  cover  a 
large  field.  The  first,  especially,  touching 
the  rights  and  duties  of  neutrals,  is  of  uni- 
versal importance.  Its  rightful  disposition 
affects  the  interests  and  well-being  of  all  the 
world.  The  neutral  is  something  more  than 
an  onlooker.  His  acts  of  omission  or  com- 
mission may  have  an  influence— indirect,  but 
tangible  —  on  a  war  actually  in  progress, 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  he  may  suffer  from 
the  exigencies  of  the  belligerents.  It  is  this 
phase  of  warfare  which  deeply  concerns  the 
world  at  large.  Efforts  have  been  made 
time  and  again  to  formulate  rules  of  action 
applicable  to  its  more  material  aspects,  as  in 
the  Declaration  of  Paris.  As  recently  as 
April  28,  of  this  year,  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  adopted  a  resolution  reading 
thus: 

"  '  Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That  it  is 
the  sense  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
that  it  is  desirable,  in  the  interest  of  uni- 
formity of  action  by  the  maritime  states  of 
the  world  in  time  of  war,  that  the  President 
endeavor  to  bring  about  an  understanding 
among  the  principal  maritime  powers  with  a 


264    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

view  of  incorporating  into  the  permanent 
law  of  civilized  nations  the  principle  of  the 
exemption  of  all  private  property  at  sea,  not 
contraband  of  war,  from  capture  or  destruc- 
tion by  belligerents. 

"  '  Approved  April  28,  1904. 

"  Other  matters  closely  affecting  the  rights 
of  neutrals  are  the  distinction  to  be  made 
between  absolute  and  conditional  contra- 
band of  war  and  the  inviolability  of  the 
official  and  private  correspondence  of  neu- 
trals. 

"As  for  the  duties  of  neutrals  toward  the 
belligerents,  the  field  is  scarcely  less  broad. 
One  aspect  deserves  mention,  from  the 
prominence  it  has  acquired  during  recent 
times,  namely,  the  treatment  due  to  refugee 
belligerent  ships  in  neutral  ports. 

"  It  may  also  be  desirable  to  consider 
and  adopt  a  procedure  by  which  states 
non-signatory  to  the  original  acts  of  The 
Hague  Conference  may  become  adhering 
parties. 

"You  will  explain  to  His  Excellency  the 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  that  the  present 
overture  for  a  second  conference  to  com- 
plete the  postponed  work  of  the  first  confer- 
ence is  not  designed  to  supersede  other 
calls  for  the  consideration  of  special  topics, 
such  as  the  proposition  of  the  Government 
of  the  Netherlands,  recently  issued,  to  as- 


THE  MAN  OF  PEACE.  265 

semble  for  the  purpose  of  amending  the 
provisions  of  the  existing  Hague  Conven- 
tion with  respect  to  hospital  ships.  Like  all 
tentative  conventions,  that  one  is  open  to 
change  in  the  light  of  practical  experience, 
and  the  fullest  deliberation  is  desirable  to 
that  end. 

"  Finally,  you  will  state  the  President's 
desire  and  hope  that  the  undying  memories 
which  cling  around  The  Hague  as  the  cradle 
of  the  beneficent  work  which  had  its  be- 
ginning in  1899,  may  be  strengthened  by 
holding  the  second  peace  conference  in  that 
historic  city." 

Favorable  responses  were  received  from 
Germany,  France,  Japan,  and  other  powers. 
The  Russian  reply  was  friendly,  but  natu- 
rally it  proposed  that  the  conference  should 
be  postponed  until  the  conclusion  of  the 
then  existing  war  with  Japan.  In  his  mes- 
sage to  Congress,  December  5,  1905,  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  named  the  questions  that 
had  been  left  over  for  the  consideration  of 
the  second  peace  conference,  and  stated 
that  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  immediately 
after  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Japan,  took 
the  initiative  in  recommending  that  the  con- 
ference be  called.  The  United  States  Gov- 
ernment in  response  said  it  would,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  take  part  in  the  new  confer- 
ence and  do  what  it  could  to  further  its 


266    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

aims.  This  made  the  reassembling  an 
assured  fact.  "  This  government,"  said  the 
President,  "  will  do  everything  in  its  power 
to  secure  the  success  of  the  conference  to 
the  end  that  substantial  progress  may  be 
made  in  the  cause  of  international  peace, 
justice,  and  good  will." 

The  greatest  war  of  modern  times  was 
that  which  broke  out  between  Russia  and 
Japan,  in  February,  1904.  In  this  instance, 
it  must  be  conceded  that  justice  was  on 
the  side  of  the  "  little  yellow  man,"  and  the 
sympathy  of  most  of  the  civilized  nations 
was  with  him.  This  was  especially  true  of 
the  United  States,  although  the  friendship 
between  Russia  and  this  country  has  been 
of  the  warmest  nature  ever  since  our  Revo- 
lution. The  bravery,  patriotism,  military 
and  naval  ability  of  the  Japanese  amazed  the 
world.  From  the  very  beginning,  the  Rus- 
sian troops  encountered  nothing  but  defeat 
upon  land,  while  the  Japs  swept  their  fleets 
from  the  Eastern  seas.  The  Island  Empire 
taught  a  lesson  to  all  other  powers  that  will 
be  remembered  for  ages. 

As  the  titanic  struggle  went  on,  the  losses 
of  lives  became  appalling.  No  fitter  name 
was  ever  given  to  war  than  that  applied 
by  our  own  General  Sherman.  It  is  not  the 
killed  in  battle  alone,  but  the  agonies  of  the 
wounded,  and  the  anguish  of  the  stricken 


THE  MAN  OF  PEACE.  267 

ones  at  home  that  make  one  shudder,  when 
he  is  compelled  to  see  or  read  of  the  strug- 
gle. As  the  strife  between  the  enormous 
armies,  employing  all  the  modern  "  improve- 
ments "  in  the  method  of  killing  people,  pro- 
gressed, the  world  stood  aghast  and  the  cry 
went  up  that  the  strife  should  cease.  More 
than  enough  lives  had  been  sacrificed  in  the 
awful  strife.  It  must  end. 

But  how  cculd  that  end  be  brought  about  ? 
Russia  had  a  colossal  empire  behind  her, 
upon  which,  despite  her  crushing  defeats, 
she  continued  to  draw.  While  she  had 
been  fought  to  her  knees,  she  still  continued 
fighting.  The  Japs  would  fight,  so  long  as 
a  man  was  able  to  load  and  aim  a  gun.  She 
might  destroy  Russian  armies  one  after  the 
other,  but  they  were  replaced  by  draughts 
upon  the  millions  at  home,  despite  the 
ominous  signs  of  domestic  revolution  which 
began  to  show  themselves.  When  Russia 
was  gently  approached  in  the  interests  of 
peace  by  one  or  more  other  powers,  she 
hotly  resented  it.  She  would  suffer  no  inter- 
ference nor  listen  even  to  advice.  On  the 
other  hand,  no  nation  dare  molest  Japan,  for 
Great  Britain  had  pledged  herself  to  go  to 
her  help,  if  she  was  attacked  by  a  second 
power.  So  perforce  the  world  was  com- 
pelled to  keep  hands  off  and  the  fearful  war 
was  waged  more  fiercely  than  ever. 


268   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

What  might  be  called  the  mortal  stroke 
was  delivered  to  Russia,  in  the  latter  part  ot 
May,  1905,  when  Admiral  Togo  annihilated 
the  last  Russian  fleet.  It  was  one  of  the 
greatest  naval  victories  in  history. 

This  crushing  of  a  leading  Power  caused 
a  universal  demand  from  every  civilized 
nation  for  an  ending  of  the  bloody  struggle. 
Upon  none  was  the  effect  profounder  than 
upon  President  Roosevelt.  His  position 
was  unique.  As  the  chief  Executive  of  one 
of  the  foremost  world  powers,  whatever  he 
said  or  did  must  command  respectful  at- 
tention. Our  influence  among  nations  is 
second  to  none.  Moreover,  we  had  strictly 
observed  the  laws  of  neutrality.  We  were 
on  specially  friendly  terms  with  Russia  and 
Japan,  though  the  former  had  felt  now  and 
then  that  we  leaned  too  much  to  the  side  of 
her  adversary.  We  were  entangled  with 
no  other  European  nation,  and  our  motives 
could  not  be  open  to  suspicion,  as  would 
have  been  the  case  with  any  other  power. 
It  was  certain  that  neither  of  the  belligerents 
would  treat  an  advance  from  the  President 
with  disrespect. 

With  that  admirable  tact  which  is  one  of 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  -strongest  characteristics,  he 
skilfully  felt  his  way  over  this  delicate  ground. 
Everything  looked  favorable,  and  on  June  8. 
1905,  he  sent  the  following  despatch  through 


THE  MAN  OF  PEACE.  £69 

diplomatic  channels  to  the  Japanese  and  the 
Russian  governments : 

"The  President  feels  that  the  time  has 
come  when  in  the  interest  of  all  mankind  he 
must  endeavor  to  see  if  it  is  not  possible  to 
bring  to  an  end  the  terrible  and  lamentable 
conflict  now  being  waged. 

"With  both  Russia  and  Japan  the  United 
States  has  inherited  ties  of  friendship  and 
good  will.  It  hopes  for  the  prosperity  and 
welfare  of  each,  and  it  feels  that  the  progress 
of  the  world  is  set  back  by  the  war  between 
the  two  great  nations.  The  President  ac- 
cordingly urges  the  Russian  and  Japanese 
governments,  not  only  for  their  sakes,  but 
in  the  interests  of  the  whole  civilized  world 
to  open  direct  negotiations  for  peace  with 
one  another. 

"The  President  suggests  that  these  peace 
negotiations  be  conducted  directly  and  ex- 
clusively between  the  belligerents  ;  in  other 
words,  that  there  may  be  a  meeting  of  Rus- 
sian and  Japanese  plenipotentiaries  or  dele- 
gates without  intermediary,  in  order  to  see  if 
it  is  not  possible  for  these  representatives  of 
the  two  Powers  to  agree  to  terms  of  peace. 

"The  President  earnestly  asks  that  the 
(Russian  or  Japanese;  according  to  address) 
Government  do  now  agree  to  such  a  meet- 
ing, and  is  asking  the  Japanese  or  Russian) 
Government  likewise  to  a.gree. 


270   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

"While  the  President  does  not  feel  that 
any  intermediary  should  be  called  in  respect 
to  the  peace  negotiations  themselves,  he  is 
entirely  willing  to  do  what  he  properly  can 
if  the  two  powers  concerned  feel  that  his 
service  will  be  of  aid  in  arranging  the  pre- 
liminaries as  to  the  time  and  place  of  meet- 
ing. 

"But  if  even  these  preliminaries  can  be 
arranged  directly  between  the  two  powers 
or  in  any  other  way  the  President  will  be 
glad,  as  his  sole  purpose  is  to  bring  about  a 
meeting  which  the  whole  civilized  world 
will  pray  may  result  in  peace." 

Both  Russia  and  Japan  accepted  the  prof- 
fer and  on  June  12,  agreed  to  appoint  pleni- 
potentiaries to  discuss  terms  of  peace. 
Russia's  first  appointments  were  Mr.  Mura- 
vieff,  a  former  Minister  of  State,  and  Baron 
Rosen,  former  Minister  at  Tokio,  but  Sergius 
Witte,  former  Finance  Minister,  took  the 
place  of  Muravieff  as  chief  envoy.  Japan 
was  represented  by  Baron  Komura,  former 
Foreign  Minister,  and  Mr.  Takahira,  Minister 
to  the  United  States.  Portsmouth,  New 
Hampshire  was  selected  as  the  place  for  the 
sessions  of  the  peace  commission. 

President  Roosevelt  at  this  time  was  at 
his  home  at  Oyster  Bay,  and  thither  the 
Russian  and  Japanese  envoys  were  escorted 
on  different  naval  vessels.  The  President, 


THE  MAN  Of  PEACE.  271 

on  board  the  Mayflower,  introduced  the  en- 
voys to  each  other,  and  at  the  luncheon  fol- 
lowing the  ceremony,  he  offered  the  toast : 

11 1  drink  to  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of 
the  sovereigns  and  the  people  of  the  two 
great  nations  whose  representatives  have 
met  one  another  on  this  ship. 

"  It  is  my  most  earnest  hope  and  prayer, 
in  the  interest  not  only  of  these  two  great 
Powers,  but  of  all  civilized  mankind,  that  a 
just  and  lasting  peace  may  be  speedily  con- 
cluded between  them." 

The  plenipotentiaries  and  their  suites  were 
carried  to  Portsmouth,  where  they  were 
given  commodious  quarters,  and  held  their 
first  meeting,  August  9.  As  was  to  be  ex- 
pected, the  terms  as  submitted  by  Japan, 
were  rejected  by  the  Russian  envoys.  It 
was  then  agreed  that  the  clauses  should  be 
considered  separately.  In  this  way,  an 
agreement  was  reached  on  several  A  dead- 
lock came,  however,  on  the  demand  that 
Russia  should  reimburse  Japan  for  the  ex- 
penses of  the  war  ;  deliver  interned  Russian 
fvarships  in  Chinese  and  American  ports 
and  restrict  Russian  naval  power  in  Asiatic 
waters. 

As  the  days  passed  without  the  first  sign 
of  agreement,  there  was  hardly  a  man  who 
did  not  believe  the  conference  would  break 
up  and  that  the  war  would  be  renewed  and 


£72   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

pressed  indefinitely.  There  seemed  no  pos- 
sible escaping  it.  Sergius  Witte  declared 
over  and  over  again,  in  the  most  emphatic 
manner,  that  Russia  would  never  pay  a 
kopeck  for  indemnity,  and  the  Japs  were  per- 
sistent. President  Roosevelt  kept  at  work 
harder  than  ever,  and  communicated  directly 
with  the  Emperors  of  both  nations.  Im- 
perial Councils  were  held  in  Tokio  and  St. 
Petersburg.  In  the  end,  Japan  waived  her 
demand  for  an  indemnity  and  made  suffi- 
cient concessions  on  other  points  to  bring 
about  peace  between  the  two  nations. 

If  President  Roosevelt  had  no  other  claim 
upon  the  gratitude  of  the  world,  his  name 
would  deserve  to  be  held  in  loving  remem- 
brance through  the  coming  ages,  for  the 
great  and  beneficent  work  he  did  in  the 
summer  of  1905,  at  Portsmouth,  New 
Hampshire. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE   MAN   OF  VERSATILITY. 

IN  a  commercial  sense,  the  most  impor- 
tant measure  connected  with  the  administra- 
tion of  President  Roosevelt,  is  the  construc- 
tion of  a  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 
The  incalculable  advantages  that  would 
result  from  such  an  immense  work  had 
attracted  the  notice  of  all  civilized  nations 
for  many  years.  As  long  ago  as  1850,  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  agreed  to  dig 
such  a  canal,  of  which  neither  was  to  assume 
exclusive  control,  and  in  case  of  war  between 
the  two  nations,  the  respective  vessels  were 
to  be  exempt  from  molestation.  It  was  ex- 
pected that  the  work  would  be  begun  at 
once,  but  it  was  not  done.  Then  the  con- 
viction fastened  itself  upon  the  American 
people  that  the  canal  should  be  dug  by  our 
government  and  wholly  owned  and  con- 
trolled by  us.  Finally,  the  old  treaty  was 
abrogated,  and  after  many  preliminaries, 
which  it  is  not  necessary  to  relate  in  this 
place,  the  United  States  made  a  treaty  with 
the  Republic  of  Panama,  in  November,  1903, 
by  which  Panama  ceded  to  the  United  States 
18  273 


274:   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

in  perpetuity,  the  necessary  tract  of  land 
ten  miles  in  width  for  the  route  of  such 
canal. 

Now,  in  order  to  be  historically  accurate, 
it  must  be  stated  that  the  Republic  of  Panama 
was  brought  into  existence  by  the  Isthmian 
Canal  project.  The  Act  of  Congress  of  June 
28,  1902,  provided  that  the  strip  of  land 
already  referred  to  should  be  purchased  from 
Colombia,  which  was  then  the  owner. 
When,  however,  the  treaty  came  before  the 
Columbian  Congress,  that  body  rejected  it. 
Various  pretexts  were  given,  but  the  simple 
truth  was  that  the  corrupt  members  com- 
posing the  Congress,  as  well  as  others  high 
in  authority,  believed  that  the  United  States, 
being  so  rich  and  powerful,  would  pay  a 
much  larger  sum  than  the  generous  price 
offered.  The  rejection  of  the  treaty  pre- 
cipitated a  new  and  stirring  condition  of 
affairs.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Isthmus  were 
eager  for  the  building  of  the  canal,  and  when 
they  found  that  the"  mother  country"  to 
which  they  had  not  long  been  joined,  had 
committed  such  an  act  of  folly,  they  rebelled 
and  declared  themselves  independent.  The 
government  forces  in  Panama  and  Colon 
numbered  only  about  1,500  men,  and  most 
of  them  felt  friendly  rather  than  otherwise 
toward  the  revolutionists.  The  revolt  oc- 
curred, and  was  carried  through  successfully 


THE  MAN  OF  VERSATILITY.  275 

without  the  loss  of  any  lives.  The  American 
women  and  children  were  in  grave  peril  for 
some  time,  but  the  firmness  of  the  naval  offi- 
cers and  marines  sent  thither  to  protect  them 
prevented  any  attack  by  the  overwhelming 
numbers  of  Colombians.  So  complete  was 
this  bloodless  revolution  that  a  good  many 
believed  our  government  had  instigated  and 
set  it  on  foot.  President  Roosevelt  declared 
that  no  one  connected  with  the  authorities 
had  any  part  in  it,  nor  had  they  any  more 
knowledge  that  it  was  impending  than  those 
who  depended  upon  the  newspapers  for 
information. 

The  construction  of  the  canal  was  decided 
upon  and  the  great  work  begun.  In  his 
annual  message  to  Congress,  December  5, 
1905,  President  Roosevelt  said  : 

"  The  treaty  between  the  United  States 
and  the  Republic  of  Panama,  under  which 
the  construction  of  the  Panama  Canal  was 
made  possible,  went  into  effect  with  its  rati- 
fication by  the  United  States  Senate  on 
February  23,  1904.  The  canal  properties  of 
the  French  Canal  Company  were  transferred 
to  the  United  States  on  April  23,  1904,  on 
payment  of  $40,000,000  to  that  company. 
On  April  i,  1905,  the  Commission  was  re- 
organized ....  Active  work  in  canal  con- 
struction, mainly  preparatory,  has  been  in 
progress  for  less  than  a  year  and  a  half. 


276    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

During  that  period  two  points  about  the 
canal  have  ceased  to  be  open  to  debate. 
First,  the  question  of  route  ;  the  canal  will 
be  built  on  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  Second, 
the  question  of  feasibility;  there  are  no 
physical  obstacles  on  this  route  that  Ameri- 
can engineering  skill  will  not  be  able  to 
overcome  without  serious  difficulty,  or  that 
will  prevent  the  completion  of  the  canal 
within  a  reasonable  time,  and  at  a  reason- 
able cost.  This  is  virtually  the  unanimous 
testimony  of  the  engineers  who  have  inves- 
tigated the  matter  for  the  Government. 

"  The  American  people  is  pledged  to 
speediest  construction  possible  of  a  canal 
adequate  to  meet  the  demands  which  the 
commerce  of  the  world  will  make  upon  it, 
and  I  appeal  most  earnestly  to  the  Congress 
to  aid  in  the  fulfillment  of  the  pledge. 
Gratifying  progress  has  been  made  during 
the  past  year,  and  especially  during  the  past 
four  months.  The  greater  part  of  the  neces- 
sary preliminary  work  has  been  done.  Ac- 
tual work  of  excavation  could  be  begun  only 
on  a  limited  scale  till  the  Canal  zone  was 
made  a  healthful  place  to  live  in  and  to  work 
in.  The  isthmus  had  to  be  sanitated  first. 
The  task  has  been  so  thoroughly  accom- 
plished that  yellow  fever  has  been  virtually 
extirpated  from  the  isthmus  and  general 
health  conditions  vastly  improved.  The 


THE  MAN  OF  VERSATILITY.  277 

same  methods  which  converted  the  island  of 
Cuba  from  a  pest  hole  which  menaced  the 
health  of  the  world,  into  a  healthful  place  of 
abode,  have  been  applied  on  the  isthmus 
with  satisfactory  results.  There  is  no  reason 
to  doubt  that  when  the  plans  for  water  sup- 
ply, paving  and  sewerage  of  Panama  and 
Colon  and  the  large  labor  camps  have  been 
fully  carried  out,  the  isthmus  will  be,  for 
the  Tropics,  an  unusually  healthy  place  of 
abode.  The  work  is  so  far  advanced  now 
that  the  health  of  all  those  employed  in  canal 
work  is  as  well  guarded  as  it  is  on  similar 
work  in  this  country  and  elsewhere. 

"  In  addition  to  sanitating  the  isthmus, 
satisfactory  quarters  are  being  provided  for 
employees  and  an  adequate  system  of  sup- 
plying them  with  wholesome  food  at  reason- 
able prices  has  been  created.  The  country 
has  thus  been  made  fit  to  work  in,  and  provis- 
ion has  been  made  for  the  welfare  and  com- 
fort of  those  who  are  to  do  the  work.  Hospi- 
tals have  been  established  and  equipped  that 
are  without  superiors  of  their  kind  anywhere. 
During  the  last  year  a  large  portion  of  the 
plant  with  which  the  work  is  to  be  done  has 
been  ordered.  It  is  confidently  believed  that 
by  the  middle  of  the  approaching  year  a  suf- 
ficient proportion  of  this  plant  will  have  been 
installed  to  enable  us  to  resume  the  work  of 
excavation  on  a  large  scale." 


278   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

The  President's  message  named  three  sub- 
jects which  overshadowed  all  others— the 
canal,  life  insurance  and  railway  rate  legis- 
lation. The  last  was  the  one  of  the  greatest 
interest  to  the  nation  at  large.  That  which 
is  to  be  accomplished  the  future  must  make 
clear.  We  have  brought  incidents  down  to 
1906,  where  perforce  we  leave  them. 

It  has  been  shown  that  all  the  promises 
of  the  young  member  of  the  New  York  Leg- 
islature have  been  made  good.  President 
Roosevelt  has  not  fallen  short  of  the  ex- 
pectations of  his  countrymen.  When, 
through  the  dark  tragedy  at  Buffalo,  he  suc- 
ceeded to  the  highest  office  in  the  land,  he 
felt  honor  bound,  as  he  said  at  the  time,  to 
carry  out  the  wishes  of  his  predecessor.  He 
was  so  conscientious  in  this  respect  that  he 
gave  offices  to  all  who  had  been  promised 
them  by  Mr.  McKinley.  His  administration 
was  so  satisfactory,  not  only  to  his  own  party 
but  to  the  country  at  large,  that  his  nomina- 
tion for  the  Presidency  was  certain,  months 
before  the  assembling  of  the  national  con- 
vention. No  voice  was  raised  in  opposition, 
and,  in  June,  1904,  he  was  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  Republican  ticket,  with  Charles  W. 
Fairbanks,  of  Indiana,  as  the  candidate  for 
the  Vice-Presidency.  The  nominees  of  the 
Democrats  were  Judge  Alton  B.  Parker  of 
New  York  and  Henry  G.  Davis  of  West  Vir- 


THE  MAN  OF  VERSATILITY.  379 

ginia.  Tickets  were  also  placed  in  the  field 
by  the  Independents,  the  Socialists,  the  Pro- 
hibitionists, the  People  and  the  Social  Labor 
parties.  Only  the  leading  candidates  entered 
the  electoral  college,  and  the  popular  vote 
cast  for  the  others  was  too  trifling  to  be 
mentioned. 

The  whole  country  was  amazed  at  the 
result  of  the  election.  Few  of  the  most 
enthusiastic  partisans  of  President  Roosevelt 
looked  for  such  an  overwhelming  victory. 
He  received  7,624,489  votes  to  5,082,754  cast 
for  Parker,  his  plurality  thus  amounting  to 
2,541,635.  His  electoral  vote  was  336  to 
140  for  Parker.  Even  the  rock-bound  Dem- 
ocratic State  of  Missouri  gave  him  a  plurality 
of  more  than  25,000.  His  victory  was  of  the 
most  decisive  character  and  afforded  another 
of  the  many  proofs,  which  the  American 
people  have  given  of  their  admiration  and 
respect  for  a  man  who  is  honest  through  and 
through,  whose  principles  are  right,  and  who 
has  the  courage  of  his  convictions. 

Thus  far  what  has  been  written  about  Mr. 
Roosevelt  has  had  to  do  mainly  with  his 
career  in  politics,  including  his  creditable 
part  in  the  war  with  Spain  ;  but  any  bio- 
graphical notice  of  him  would  be  grossly 
imperfect  if  it  failed  to  make  note  of  his 
brilliant  versatility.  In  this  respect,  he  sug- 
gests Kaiser  William  II.,  of  Germany.  There 


280    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

is  truth  in  the  characterization  of  Roosevelt 
by  one  of  his  biographers  as  "  that  amiable 
and  gifted  author,  legislator,  field  sportsman, 
soldier,  reformer  and  executive." 

Two  years  before  his  graduation  from 
Harvard,  he  wrote  a  history  of  the  Naval 
War  of  1812,  which  ranks  among  the  best 
authorities.  Since  then  he  has  produced 
among  others  :  "  Hunting  Trips  of  a  Ranch- 
man "  ;  biographies  of  Thomas  Hart  Benton, 
Gouverneur  Morris  and  Oliver  Cromwell ; 
"  Ranch  Life  and  the  Hunting  Trail "  ; 
"  The  Winning  of  the  West  "  (probably  the 
best  work  extant  upon  that  theme)  ;  "  The 
Wilderness  Hunter  "  ;  "  New  York  "  ;  "  The 
Rough  Riders  "  ;  "  American  Ideals  "  and 
"  The  Strenuous  Life."  Even  amid  the 
multitudinous  duties  as  President,  he  finds 
time  to  pursue  his  literary  work.  All  that 
his  pen  produces  would  command  attention 
and  respect  apart  from  his  prominence  in 
the  affairs  of  the  nation. 

As  has  been  said,  he  is  a  mighty  hunter 
and  his  stories  of  western  life,  in  which  he 
has  been  an  eager  participant,  are  fascinat- 
ing, for  in  reading  them  every  one  knows 
they  are  truthful  narratives.  His  knowledge 
of  natural  history  would  enable  him  to  fill  a 
professorship  of  the  subject  in  any  institu- 
tion. A  more  ardent  sportsman  never  lived. 
No  boy  let  loose  on  vacation,  ever  hied 


THE  MAN  OF  VERSATILITY.  281 

more  'joyously  to  play  than  the  President, 
when  able  to  lay  aside  the  cares  of  his 
office,  rushes  westward  to  his  ranch,  or 
buries  himself  with  a  party  of  veteran  hunt- 
ers and  choice  spirits  in  the  wilds  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  He  revels  in  the  hunt, 
with  its  spice  of  personal  danger,  and  its 
hardships.  Trained  athlete  that  he  has  al- 
ways been,  of  powerful  physique  and  great 
physical  strength,  the  most  inured  plains- 
man cannot  overcome  more  obstacles  than 
he.  If  we  might  venture  on  a  prophecy  as 
to  Mr.  Roosevelt's  future,  should  his  life  be 
spared,  it  is  this  : 

When  his  term  as  President  ends,  his  first 
act  will  be  to  start  on  a  trip  round  the  world. 
He  will  take  a  spin  with  Emperor  William, 
and  would  engage  him  in  a  boxing  bout, 
but  for  the  weakness  of  one  of  the  Em- 
peror's arms  ;  he  will  hob-nob  with  King 
Edward  and  incidentally  show  him  how  to 
build  up  his  muscles,  demonstrating  how 
much  superior  the  strenuous  life  is  to  one 
of  idleness  and  luxury  ;  he  may  drop  in  as 
a  spectator  at  some  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  Austro-Hungarian  Parliament ;  if  one  of 
the  usual  rows  breaks  out,  it  will  be  worse 
for  those  who  may  be  forced  into  contact 
with  the  visitor  than  for  himself  ;  he  will  be 
as  much  a  favorite  with  royalty  as  was  Ben* 
jamin  Franklin  among  the  frivolous  and  gay 


282    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

French.  The  next  that  will  be  heard  from 
Mr.  Roosevelt  will  tell  that  he  is  in  Central 
Africa,  chasing  elephants,  fighting  hippopo- 
tami, rhinoceroses  and  other  big  game.  Since 
there  are  no  tigers  in  the  Dark  Continent, 
he  will  head  for  India,  where  there  is  no 
end  of  them.  He  will  not  forget  to  drink 
tea  with  Emperor  of  Japan,  to  shake  hands 
with  Oyama,  Togo  and  the  other  military 
and  naval  heroes  ;  incidentally  he  will  teach 
the  last  wrinkle  in  jiu-jitsu  to  the  profes- 
sionals in  Tokio.  Completing  the  round,  he 
will  come  back  to  his  own  country,  and, 
after  spending  a  few  weeks  on  his  ranch  or 
in  the  Rockies,  in  order  to  train  down,  will 
become  the  President  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity. Next — but  it  is  hardly  safe  to  prophesy 
further. 

Some  one  may  repeat  the  suggestion  that 
he  will  be  a  Presidential  candidate  again. 
He  will  not.  How  can  we  know  that  ? 

He  has  said  so. 

Among  President  Roosevelt's  many  ad- 
mirable qualities,  are  his  personal  puritanic 
morality,  his  deep  religious  convictions,  and 
his  ardent  love  for  his  family.  With  the 
children,  he  frolics  like  a  boy,  and  while  he 
is  strict  in  his  discipline,  no  father  could  be 
more  affectionate.  No  breath  of  scandal  can 
ever  taint  that  threshold. 

One  of  the  wisest  utterances  of  a  distin- 


THE  MAN  OF  VERSATILITY.  283 

guished  American  humorist  was  to  the  effect 
that  the  best  method  by  which  a  father  can 
teach  a  son  to  go  the  right  way  is  to  go  that 
way  himself,  This  truth  was  emphasized  by 
the  President's  army  order,  issued  in  March, 
1902  : 

"  It  is  the  duty  of  regimental  and  partic- 
ularly of  company  officers,  to  try  by  precept 
and  example  to  point  out  to  the  men 
under  their  control,  and  particularly  to  the 
younger  men,  the  inevitable  misery  and 
disaster  which  follow  upon  intemperance 
and  upon  moral  uncleanness  and  vicious 
living.  The  officers  should,  of  course,  re- 
member always  that  the  effect  of  what  they 
say  must  depend  largely  upon  the  lives  they 
themselves  lead.  As  a  nation,  we  feel  keen 
pride  in  the  valor,  discipline  and  steadfast 
endurance  of  our  soldiers,  and  hand  in  hand 
with  these  qualities  must  go  the  virtues  of 
self-restraint,  self-respect  and  self-control." 

So  when  the  publisher  of  a  vile  sheet  sent 
the  author  of  the  above  words  a  gorgeous, 
nauseating  volume,  the 'President  refused  to 
receive  it,  and,  with  a  thrill  of  pride,  we  all 
said  : 

"It  is  exactly  what  we  knew  he  would 
do!" 

One  of  President  Roosevelt's  biographers 
says  he  is  not  a  good  dancer.  It  has  been 
remarked,  too,  that  when  he  occasionally 


284    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

bursts  into  song,  the  listeners  are  reminded 
of  the  old  couplet : 

*'  Swans  sing  before  they  die  ;  'twere  no  bad  thing 
Should  certain  persons  die  before  they  sing." 

All  the  same,  the  truth  is  beyond  ques- 
tion :  the  century  has  produced  no  nobler 
type  of  MAN  that  it  has  given  us  in  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

WORDS   OF  WISDOM. 

T  .  ROOSEVELT  lacks  the  grace  of  the 
polished  orator,  but  he  is  always  intensely  in 
earnest,  and  what  he  says  is  instructive 
and  well  worth  attention.  He  has  made 
many  addresses  and  speeches,  that  show  the 
thoughtful  scholar,  the  deep  thinker  and  a 
profound  knowledge  of  history  and  of  men. 
In  this  concluding  chapter,  we  shall  give 
extracts  from  some  of  his  speeches  touching 
chiefly  upon  religion,  patriotism,  education, 
labor  and  capital,  and  our  civic  duties.  As 
regards  religion  : 

"  But  in  addition  to  the  hard,  practical 
common  sense  needed  by  each  of  us  in  life, 
we  must  have  a  lift  toward  lofty  things  or  we 
shall  be  lost,  individually  and  collectively,  as 
a  nation.  Life  is  not  easy,  and  least  of  all  is 
it  easy  for  either  the  man  or  the  nation 
that  aspires  to  do  great  deeds.  In  the  cen- 
tury opening,  the  play  of  the  infinitely  far- 
reaching  forces  and  tendencies  which  go  to 
make  up  our  social  system  bids  fair  to  be 
even  fiercer  in  its  activity  than  in  the  cen- 
285 


286    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

tury  which  has  just  closed.  If  during  this 
century  the  men  of  high  and  fine  moral 
sense  show  themselves  weaklings;  if  they 
possess  only  that  cloistered  virtue  which 
shrinks  shuddering  from  contact  with  the 
raw  facts  of  actual  life;  if  they  dare  not  go 
down  in  the  hurly-burly  where  the  men  of 
might  contend  for  the  mastery;  if  they  stand 
aside  from  the  pressure  of  conflict;  then  as 
surely  as  the  sun  rises  and  sets,  all  of  our 
great  material  progress,  all  the  multiplica- 
tion of  the  physical  agencies  which  tend  for 
our  comfort  and  enjoyment,  will  go  for 
naught,  and  our  civilization  will  become  a 
brutal  sham  and  mockery.  If  we  are  to  do 
as  I  believe  we  shall  and  will  do,  if  we  are  to 
advance  in  broad  humanity,  in  kindliness,  in 
the  spirit  of  brotherhood,  exactly  as  we  ad- 
vance in  our  conquest  over  the  hidden  forces 
of  nature,  it  must  be  by  developing  strength 
in  virtue  and  virtue  in  strength,  by  breeding 
and  training  men  who  shall  be  both  good 
and  strong,  both  gentle  and  valiant — men 
who  scorn  wrong-doing,  and  who  at  the 
same  time  have  both  the  courage  and  the 
strength  to  strive  mightily  for  the  right.  .  .  . 
"  The  other  day  in  a  little  Lutheran  church 
at  Sioux  Falls  I  listened  to  a  most  interesting 
and  most  stimulating  sermon,  which  struck 
me  particularly  because  of  the  translation  of 
a  word  which,  I  am  ashamed  to  say,  I  myself 


WORDS  OF  WISDOM.  2S^f 

had  always  before  mistranslated.  It  was  on 
the  old  text  of  faith,  hope,  and  charity.  The 
sermon  was  delivered  in  German,  and  the 
word  that  the  preacher  used  for  charity  was 
not  charity,  but  love;  preaching  that  the 
greatest  of  all  the  forces  with  which  we 
deal  for  betterment  is  love.  Looking  it  up 
I  found,  of  course,  what  I  ought  to  have 
known,  but  did  not,  that  the  Greek  word 
which  we  have  translated  into  the  word 
charity,  should  be  more  properly  translated 
love.  That  is,  we  use  the  word  charity  at 
present  in  a  sense  which  does  not  make  it 
correspond  entirely  to  the  word  used  in  the 
original  Greek.  This  Lutheran  preacher 
developed  in  a  very  striking  but  very  happy 
fashion,  the  absolute  need  of  love  in  the 
broadest  sense  of  the  word,  in  order  to  make 
mankind  even  approximately  perfect.  .  .  . 

11  It  seems  to  me  that  these  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations  play  a  part  of  the 
greatest  consequence,  not  merely  because  of 
the  great  good  they  do  in  themselves,  but 
because  of  the  lesson  of  brotherhood  that 
they  teach  all  of  us.  All  of  us  here  are  knit 
together  by  bonds  which  we  cannot  sever. 
For  weal  or  for  woe  our  fates  are  inextricably 
intermingled.  All  of  us  in  our  present  civ- 
ilization are  dependent  upon  one  another  to 
a  degree  never  before  known  in  the  history 
of  mankind,  and  in  the  long  run  we  are 


288    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

going  to  go  up  or  go  down  together.  For  a 
moment  some  man  may  rise  by  trampling  on 
his  fellows;  fora  moment,  and  much  more 
commonly,  some  men  think  they  will  rise  or 
gratify  their  envy  and  hatred  by  pulling 
down  others.  But  any  such  movement  up- 
ward is  probably  illusory,  and  is  certainly 
short-lived.  Any  permanent  movement  up- 
ward must  come  in  such  a  shape  that  all  of 
us  feel  the  lift  a  little,  and  if  there  is  a  ten- 
dency downward,  all  of  us  will  feel  that 
tendency  too.  We  must,  if  we  are  to  raise 
ourselves,  realize  that  each  of  us  in  the  long 
run  can  with  certainty  be  raised  only  if  the 
conditions  are  such  that  all  of  us  are  some- 
what raised.  In  order  to  bring  about  these 
conditions,  the  first  essential  is  that  each 
shall  have  a  genuine  spirit  of  regard  and 
friendship  for  the  others,  and  that  each 
of  us  shall  try  to  look  at  the  problems  of  life 
somewhat  from  his  neighbor's  standpoint — 
that  we  shall  have  the  capacity  to  under- 
stand one  another's  position,  one  another's 
needs,  and  also  the  desire  each  to  help  his 
brother  as  well  as  to  help  himself.  To  do 
that  wisely,  wisely  to  strive  with  that  as  the 
aim,  is  not  very  easy.  Many  qualities  are 
needed  in  order  that  we  can  contribute  our 
mite  toward  the  upward  movement  of  the 
world— among  them  the  quality  of  self-abne- 
gation, and  yet  combined  with  it  the  quality 


WORDS  OF  WISDOM.  2g£ 

which  will  refuse  to  submit  to  injustice.  I 
want  to  preach  the  two  qualities  going  hand 
in  hand.  I  do  not  want  a  man  to  fail  to  try 
to  strive  for  his  own  betterment.  I  do  not 
want  him  to  be  quick  to  yield  to  injustice;  I 
want  him  to  stand  for  his  rights;  I  want  him 
to  be  very  certain  that  he  knows  what  his 
rights  are,  and  that  he  does  not  make  them 
the  wrongs  of  some  one  else.  .  .  . 

"  Another  thing  :  let  us,  so  far  as  strength 
is  given  us,  make  it  evident  to  those  who  look 
on,  and  who  are  not  of  us,  that  our  faith  is 
not  one  of  words  merely;  that  it  finds  ex- 
pression in  deeds.  One  sad,  one  lamentable 
phase  of  human  history  is  that  the  very  lofti- 
est words,  implying  the  loftiest  ideas,  have 
often  been  used  as  cloaks  for  the  commission 
of  dreadful  deeds  of  iniquity.  No  more 
hideous  crimes  have  ever  been  committed  by 
men  than  those  that  have  been  committed  in 
the  name  of  liberty,  of  order,  of  brotherhood, 
of  religion.  People  have  butchered  one 
another  under  circumstances  of  dreadful 
atrocity,  claiming  all  the  time  to  be  serving 
the  object  of  the  brotherhood  of  man,  or  of 
the  brotherhood  of  God.  We  must  in  our 
lives,  in  our  efforts,  endeavor  to  further  the 
cause  of  brotherhood  in  the  human  family; 
and  we  must  do  it  in  such  a  way  that  the 
men  anxious  to  find  subject  for  complaint  or 
derision  in  the  Churches  of  the  United 


2$0    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

States,  in  our  Church,  may  not  be  able  to 
find  it  by  pointing  out  any  contrast  between 
our  professions  and  our  lives.  .  .  . 

"  Surely  in  every  movement  for  the  bet- 
terment of  our  life,  our  life  social  in  the  tru- 
est and  deepest  sense,  our  life  political,  we 
have  a  special  right  to  ask  not  merely  sup- 
port, but  leadership  from  those  of  the 
Church.  We  ask  that  you  here  to  whom 
much  has  been  given  will  remember  that 
from  you  rightly  much  will  be  expected  in 
return.  For  all  of  us  here  the  lines  have 
been  cast  in  pleasant  places.  Each  of  us 
has  been  given  one  talent,  or  five,  or  ten 
talents,  and  each  of  us  is  in  honor  bound 
to  use  that  talent  or  those  talents  aright, 
and  to  show  at  the  end  that  he  is  en- 
titled to  the  praise  of  having  done  well  as  a 
faithful  servant." 

The  following  are  some  of  the  things 
President  Roosevelt  has  said  regarding 
patriotism  : 

"  If  ever  the  need  comes  in  the  future, 
the  past  had  made  abundantly  evident  that 
from  this  time  on  Northerner  and  Southerner 
will  in  war  know  only  the  generous  desire 
to  strive  how  each  can  do  the  more  effective 
service  for  the  flag  of  our  common  country. 
The  same  thing  is  true  in  the  endless  work 
of  peace,  the  never-ending  work  of  building 
and  keeping  the  marvelous  fabric  of  our  in- 


WORDS  OF  WISDOM.  291 

dustrial  prosperity.  The  upbuilding  of  any 
part  o  our  country  is  a  benefit  to  the  whole, 
and  every  such  effort  to  stimulate  the  re- 
sources and  industry  of  a  particular  section 
is  entitled  to  the  heartiest  support  from 
every  quarter  of  the  Union.  Thoroughly 
good  national  work  can  be  done  only  if 
each  of  us  works  hard  for  himself,  and  at 
the  same  time  keeps  constantly  in  mind 
that  he  must  work  in  conjunction  with 
others.  .  .  . 

"  I  fail  to  see  how  any  American  can  come 
to  Chattanooga  and  go  over  the  great  battle- 
fields of  the  neighborhood — the  battle-fields 
here  in  this  State  and  just  across  the  border 
of  my  mother's  State  of  Georgia— how  any 
American  can  come  here  and  see  evidences 
of  the  mighty  deeds  done  by  the  men  who 
wore  the  blue  and  the  men  who  wore  the 
gray,  and  not  go  away  a  better  American, 
prouder  of  the  country,  prouder  because  of 
the  valor  displayed  on  both  sides  in  the 
contest— the  valor,  self-devotion,  the  loyalty 
to  the  right  as  each  saw  the  right. 

"  Two  of  my  captains  were  killed  at  San- 
tiago ;  one  was  Allyn  Capron,  the  fifth  in  line 
who,  from  father  to  son,  had  served  in  the 
regular  army  of  the  United  States,  who  had 
served  in  every  war  in  which  our  country 
has  been  engaged  ;  the  other,  Bucky  O'Neill. 
His  father  had  fought  under  Meagher,  when, 


292   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

on  the  day  at  Fredericksburg.  his  brigade  left 
more  men  under  the  stone  wall  than  did  any 
other  brigade.  I  had  in  my  regiment  men 
from  the  North  and  the  South  ;  men  from 
the  East  and  the  West  ;  men  whose  fathers 
had  fought  under  Grant,  and  whose  fathers 
had  fought  under  Lee  ;  college  graduates, 
capitalists'  sons,  wage-workers,  the  man  of 
means  and  the  man  who  all  his  life  had  owed 
each  day's  bread  to  the  day's  toil.  I  had 
Catholic,  Protestant,  Jew  and  Gentile  under 
me.  Among  my  captains  were  men  whose 
forefathers  had  been  among  the  first  white 
men  to  settle  on  Massachusetts  Bay  and  on 
the  banks  of  the  James,  and  others  whose 
parents  had  come  from  Germany,  from  Ire- 
land, from  England,  from  France.  They 
were  all  Americans,  and  nothing  else,  and 
each  man  stood  on  his  worth  as  a  man,  to 
be  judged  by  it,  and  to  succeed  or  fail  ac- 
cordingly as  he  did  well  or  ill.  Compared 
to  the  giant  death-wrestles  that  reeled  over 
the  mountains  round  about  this  city  the  fight 
at  Santiago  was  the  merest  skirmish  ;  but 
the  spirit  in  which  we  handled  ourselves 
there,  I  hope,  was  the  spirit  in  which  we 
have  to  face  our  duties  as  citizens  if  we  are 
to  make  this  Republic  what  it  must  be 

made 

"  When  our  forefathers  joined  to  call  into 
being  this  nation,  they  undertook  a  task  for 


WORDS  OF  WISDOM.  293 

which  there  was  but  little  encouraging  pre- 
cedent. The  development  of  civilization 
from  the  earliest  period  seems  to  show  the 
truth  of  two  propositions  :  In  the  first  place, 
it  had  always  proved  exceedingly  difficult 
to  secure  both  freedom  and  strength  in  any 
government  ;  and  in  the  second  place,  it  had 
always  proved  well-nigh  impossible  for  a 
nation  to  expand  without  either  breaking  up 
or  becoming  a  centralized  tyranny.  With 
the  success  of  our  effort  to  combine  a  strong 
and  efficient  national  union,  able  to  put 
down  disorder  at  home  and  to  maintain  our 
honor  and  interest  abroad,  I  have  not  now 
to  deal.  This  success  was  signal  and  all- 
important,  but  it  was  by  no  means  unprece- 
dented in  the  same  sense  that  our  type  of 
expansion  was  unprecedented.  The  history 
of  Rome  and  Greece  illustrates  very  well 
the  two  types  of  expansion  which  had  taken 
place  in  ancient  time  and  which  had  been 
universally  accepted  as  the  only  possible 
types  up  to  the  period  when  as  a  nation  we 
ourselves  began  to  take  possession  of  this 
continent.  The  Grecian  states  performed 
remarkable  feats  of  colonization,  but  each 
colony  as  soon  as  created  became  entirely 
independent  of  the  mother  state,  and  in 
after  years  was  almost  as  apt  to  prove  its 
enemy  as  its  friend.  Local  self-government, 
local  independence,  was  secured,  but  only 


294   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  TUB  WHITE  HOUSE. 

by  the  absolute  sacrifice  of  anything  resem- 
bling national  unity.  In  consequence,  the 
Greek  world,  for  all  its  wonderful  brilliancy 
and  extraordinary  artistic,  literary,  and  phil- 
osophical development,  which  has  made  all 
mankind  its  debtor  for  the  ages,  was  yet 
wholly  unable  to  withstand  a  formidable 
foreign  foe,  save  spasmodically.  As  soon 
as  powerful  permanent  empires  arose  on  its 
outskirts,  the  Greek  states  in  the  neighbor- 
hood  of  such  empires  fell  under  their  sway. 
National  power  and  greatness  were  com- 
pletely sacrificed  to  local  liberty 

"  With  Rome  the  exact  opposite  occurred. 
The  imperial  city  rose  to  absolute  dominion 
over  all  the  peoples  of  Italy  and  then 
expanded  her  rule  over  the  entire  civilized 
world  by  a  process  which  kept  the  nation 
strong  and  united,  but  gave  no  room  what- 
ever for  local  liberty  and  self-government. 
All  other  cities  and  countries  were  sub- 
ject to  Rome.  In  consequence  this  great 
and  masterful  race  of  warriors,  rulers,  road- 
builders  and  administrators,  stamped  their 
indelible  impress  upon  all  the  after-life  of  our 
race,  and  yet  let  an  over-centralization  eat 
out  the  vitals  of  their  empire  until  it  became 
an  empty  shell ;  so  that  when  the  barbarians 
came  they  destroyed  only  what  had  already 
become  worthless  to  the  world. 

"The  underlying  viciousness  of  each  type 


WORDS  OF  WISDOM.  295 

of  expansion  was  plain  enough  and  the  rem- 
edy now  seems  simple  enough.  But  when 
the  fathers  of  the  Republic  first  formulated 
the  Constitution  under  which  we  live,  this 
remedy  was  untried  and  no  one  could  fore- 
tell how  it  would  work.  They  themselves 
began  the  experiment  almost  immediately 
by  adding  new  States  to  the  original  thir- 
teen. Excellent  people  in  the  East  viewed 
this  initial  expansion  of  the  country  with 
great  alarm.  Exactly  as  during  the  colonial 
period  many  good  people  in  the  mother 
country  thought  it  highly  important  that 
settlers  should  be  kept  out  of  the  Ohio 
valley  in  the  interest  of  the  fur  companies, 
so  after  we  had  become  a  nation  many  good 
people  on  the  Atlantic  coast  felt  grave  ap- 
prenension  lest  they  might  somehow  be 
hurt  by  the  westward  growth  of  the  nation. 
These  good  people  shook  their  heads  over 
the  formation  of  States  in  the  fertile  Ohio 
valley  which  now  forms  part  of  the  heart  of 
the  nation  ;  and  they  declared  that  the 
destruction  of  the  Republic  had  been  ac- 
complished when  through  the  Louisiana 
purchase  we  acquired  nearly  half  of  what  is 
now  that  same  Republic's  present  territory  ; 
Nor  was  their  feeling  unnatural.  Only  the 
adventurous  and  the  far-seeing  can  be  ex- 
pected heartily  to  welcome  the  process  of 
expansion,  for  the  nation  that  expands  is  a 


296    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

nation  which  is  entering  upon  a  great  career, 
and  with  greatness  there  must  of  necessity 
come  perils  which  daunt  all  save  the  most 
stout-hearted.  .  .  . 

11  You  men  of  the  Grand  Army  by  your  vic- 
tory not  only  rendered  all  Americans  your 
debtors.  If  the  Union  had  been  dissolved,  if 
the  great  edifice  built  with  blood  and  sweat 
and  tears  by  mighty  Washington  and  his 
compeers  had  gone  down  in  wreck  and  ruin, 
the  result  would  have  been  an  incalculable 
calamity,  not  only  for  our  people,  and  most 
of  all  for  those  who,  in  such  event,  would 
have  seemingly  triumphed,  but  for  all  man- 
kind. The  great  American  Republic  would 
have  become  a  memory  of  derision,  and  the 
failure  of  the  experiment  of  self-government 
by  a  great  people  on  a  great  scale  would 
have  delighted  the  heart  of  every  foe  of 
republican  institutions.  Our  country,  now 
so  great  and  so  wonderful,  would  have  been 
split  into  little  jangling  rival  nationalities, 
each  with  a  history  both  bloody  and  con- 
temptible. It  was  because  you,  the  men 
who  wear  the  button  of  the  Grand  Army, 
triumphed  in  those  dark  years,  that  every 
American  now  holds  up  his  head  high, 
proud  in  the  knowledge  that  he  belongs  to 
a  nation  whose  glorious  past  and  great  pres- 
ent will  be  succeeded  by  an  even  mightier 
future  ;  whereas  had  you  failed,  we  would 


WORDS  OF  WISDOM.  297 

all  of  us,  North  and  South,  East  and  West, 
be  now  treated  by  other  nations  at  the  best 
with  contemptuous  tolerance,  at  the  worst 
with  overbearing  insolence." 

Among  the  President's  sentiments  regard- 
ing education  is  the  following  : 

"Although  we  talk  a  good  deal  about  what 
the  widespread  education  of  this  country 
means,  I  question  if  many  of  us  deeply  con- 
sider its  meaning.  From  the  lowest  grade 
of  the  public  school  to  the  highest  form  of 
university  training,  education  in  this  coun- 
try is  at  the  disposal  of  every  man,  every 
woman,  who  chooses  to  work  for  and  obtain 
it.  The  State  has  done  very  much  ;  private 
benefaction  has  done  very  much  ;  witness 
also  this  University  (of  California).  And 
each  one  of  us  who  has  obtained  an  educa- 
tion has  obtained  something  for  which  he  or 
she  has  not  personally  paid.  No  matter 
what  the  school,  what  the  university,  every 
American  who  has  a  school  training,  a 
university  training,  has  obtained  something 
given  to  him  outright  by  the  State,  or  given 
to  him  by  those  dead  or  those  living  who 
were  able  to  make  provision  for  that  train- 
ing because  of  the  protection  of  the  State, 
because  of  existence  within  its  borders. 
Each  one  of  us  then  who  has  an  education, 
school  or  college,  has  obtained  something 
from  the  community  at  large  for  which  he 


298    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

or  she  has  not  paid,  and  no  self-respecting 
man  or  woman  is  content  to  rest  perma- 
nently under  such  an  obligation.  Where 
the  State  has  bestowed  education  the  man 
who  accepts  it  must  be  content  to  accept 
merely  as  a  charity  unless  he  returns  it  to 
the  State  in  full,  in  the  shape  of  good  citi- 
zenship. I  do  not  ask  of  you,  men  and 
women  here  to-day,  good  citizenship  as  a 
favor  to  the  State.  I  demand  it  of  you  as 
a  right,  and  hold  you  recreant  to  your  duty 
if  you  fail  to  give  it. 

"  From  those  to  whom  much  has  been 
given  we  have  Biblical  authority  to  expect 
and  demand  much  in  return  ;  and  the  most 
that  can  be  given  to  any  man  is  education. 
I  expect  and  demand  in  the  name  of  the 
nation  much  more  from  you  who  have  had 
training  of  the  mind  than  from  those  of 
mere  wealth.  To  the  man  of  means  much 
has  been  given,  too,  and  much  will  be  ex- 
pected from  him,  and  ought  to  be,  but  not 
as  much  as  from  you,  because  your  posses- 
sion is  more  valuable  than  his.  If  you  envy 
him  I  think  poorly  of  you.  Envy  is  merely 
the  meanest  form  of  admiration,  and  a  man 
who  envies  another  admits  thereby  his  own 
inferiority.  We  have  a  right  to  expect  from 
the  college-bred  man,  the  college-bred 
woman,  a  proper  sense  of  proportion,  a 
proper  sense  of  perspective,  which  will 


WORDS  OF  WISDOM.  999 

enable  him  or  her  to  see  things  in  their 
right  relation  one  to  another,  and  when  thus 
seen,  while  wealth  will  have  a  proper  place, 
a  just  place,  as  an  instrument  for  achieving 
happiness  and  power,  for  conferring  happi- 
ness and  power,  it  will  not  stand  as  high  as 
much  else  in  our  national  life.  I  ask  you  to 
take  that  not  as  a  conventional  statement 
from  the  university  platform,  but  to  test  it 
by  thinking  of  the  men  whom  you  admire 
in  our  past  history  and  seeing  what  are  the 
qualities  which  have  made  you  admire  them, 
what  are  the  services  they  have  rendered. 
For,  as  President  Wheeler  said  to-day,  it  is 
true  now  as  it  has  ever  been  true,  that  the 
greatest  good  fortune,  the  greatest  honor, 
that  can  befall  any  man  is  that  he  shall 
serve  the  nation,  serve  his  people,  serve 
mankind ;  and  looking  back  in  history  the 
names  that  come  up  before  us,  the  names  to 
which  we  turn,  the  names  of  the  men  of 
our  own  people  which  stand  as  shining 
marks  in  our  annals,  the  names  of  those 
men  typifying  qualities  which  rightly  we 
should  hold  in  reverence,  are  the  names 
of  the  statesmen,  of  the  soldiers,  of  the 
poets,  and  after  them,  not  abreast  of  them, 
the  names  of  the  architects  of  our  material 
prosperity  also." 

One  of  the  greatest  problems  confronting 
us  as  it  confronts  other  nations,  is  the  ad- 


300    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

justment  of  the  right  relations  between  labor 
and  capital.  Like  the  negro  problem,  it  often 
seems  the  despair  of  our  most  patriotic  and 
thoughtful  citizens.  President  Roosevelt 
has  had  to  face  the  question  many  times, 
from  his  service  as  police  commissioner 
down  to  his  occupancy  of  the  White  House. 
He  is  always  ready  to  express  his  views  with 
candor  and  frankness,  and  his  words  are 
entitled  to  great  weight  and  consideration. 

"  The  development  of  machinery  and  the 
extraordinary  change  of  business  conditions," 
said  he,  "  have  rendered  the  employment  of 
capital  and  of  persons  in  large  aggregations 
not  merely  profitable  but  often  necessary  for 
success,  and  have  specialized  the  labor  of 
the  wage-worker  at  the  same  time  that  they 
have  brought  great  aggregations  of  wage- 
workers  together.  More  and  more  in  our 
great  industrial  centers  men  have  come  to 
realize  that  they  cannot  live  as  independently 
of  one  another  as  in  the  old  days  was  the 
case  everywhere,  and  is  now  the  case  in 
the  country  districts. 

"  Of  course  fundamentally  each  man  will 
yet  find  that  the  chief  factor  in  determining 
his  success  or  failure  in  life  is  the  sum  of 
his  own  individual  qualities.  He  cannot 
afford  to  lose  his  individual  initiative,  his 
individual  will  and  power  ;  but  he  can  best 
use  that  power  if  for  certain  objects  he  unites 


WORDS  OF  WISDOM.  3QJ 

with  his  fellows.  Much  can  be  done  by 
organization,  combination,  union  among 
the  wage-workers  ;  finally,  something  can  be 
done  by  the  direct  action  of  the  State.  It 
is  not  possible  empirically  to  declare  when 
the  interference  of  the  State  should  be 
deemed  legitimate  and  when  illegitimate. 

"  The  line  of  demarcation  between  un- 
healthy over-interference  and  unhealthy  lack 
of  regulation  is  not  always  well  defined,  and 
shifts  with  the  change  in  our  industrial 
needs.  Most  certainly  we  should  never  in- 
voke the  interference  of  the  State  or  Nation 
unless  it  is  absolutely  necessary ;  but  it  is 
equally  true  that  when  confident  of  its  neces- 
sity we  should  not  on  academic  ground  re- 
fuse it.  Wise  factory  laws,  laws  to  forbid 
the  employment  of  child  labor  and  to 
safeguard  the  employees  against  the  effects 
of  culpable  negligence  by  the  employer,  are 
necessary,  not  merely  in  the  interest  of  the 
wage-worker,  but  in  the  interest  of  the 
honest  and  humane  employer,  who  should 
not  be  penalized  for  his  honesty  and 
humanity  by  being  exposed  to  unchecked 
competition  with  an  unscrupulous  rival. 
It  is  far  more  difficult  to  deal  with  the  greed 
that  works  through  cunning  than  with  the 
greed  that  works  through  violence.  But 
the  effort  to  deal  with  it  must  be  steadily 
made. 


302    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

"  Very  much  of  our  effort  in  reference  to 
labor  matters  should  be  by  every  device  and 
expedient  to  try  to  secure  a  constantly  better 
understanding  between  employer  and  em- 
ployee. Everything  possible  should  be 
done  to  increase  the  sympathy  and  fellow 
feeling  between  them,  and  every  chance 
taken  to  allow  each  to  look  at  all  questions, 
especially  at  questions  in  dispute,  somewhat 
through  the  other's  eyes.  If  met  with  a 
sincere  desire  to  act  fairly  by  one  another, 
and  if  there  is,  furthermore,  power  by  each 
to  appreciate  the  other's  standpoint,  the 
chance  for  trouble  is  minimized.  I  suppose 
every  thinking  man  rejoices  when  by  media- 
tion or  arbitration  it  proves  possible  to  settle 
troubles  in  time  to  avert  the  suffering  and 
bitterness  caused  by  strikes.  Moreover,  a 
conciliation  committee  can  do  best  work 
when  the  trouble  is  in  its  beginning,  or  at 
least  has  not  come  to  a  head.  When  the 
break  has  actually  occurred,  damage  has 
been  done,  and  each  side  feels  sore  and 
angry  ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  get  them  together 
—difficult  to  make  either  forget  its  own 
wrongs  and  remember  the  rights  of  the  other. 
If  possible  the  effort  at  conciliation  or  medi- 
ation or  arbitration  should  be  made  in  the 
earlier  stages,  and  should  be  marked  by  the 
wish  on  the  part  of  both  sides  to  try  to  come 
to  a  common  agreement  which  each  shall 


WORDS  OF  WISDOM.  303 

think  in  the  interests  of  the  other  as  well  as 
of  itself. 

"  No  one  quality  will  get  us  out  of  any 
difficulty.  We  need  more  than  xme  :  we 
need  a  good  many.  We  need,  as  I  said, 
the  power  first  of  each  man's  honestly  try- 
ing to  look  at  the  problem  from  his  fellow's 
standpoint.  Capitalist  and  wage-worker 
alike,  should  honestly  endeavor  each  to  look 
at  the  matter  from  the  other's  standpoint, 
with  a  freedom  on  the  one  hand  from  the 
contemptible  arrogance  which  looks  down 
on  the  man  of  less  means,  and  on  the  other, 
from  the  no  less  contemptible  envy,  jealousy 
and  rancor,  which  hates  another  because  he 
is  better  off.  Each  quality  is  the  supple- 
ment of  the  other,  and  in  point  of  baseness 
there  is  not  the  weight  of  a  finger  to  choose 
between  them. 

"  Any  man  who  tries  to  excite  class 
hatred,  sectional  hate,  hate  of  creeds,  any 
kind  of  hatred  in  the  community,  though  he 
may  affect  to  do  it  in  the  interest  of  the 
class  he  is  addressing,  it  is  in  the  long  run 
with  absolute  certainty  that  class's  own 
worst  enemy.  In  the  long  run,  and  as  a 
whole,  we  are  going  to  go  up  or  go  down 
together.  Of  course  there  will  be  individual 
exceptions,  small,  local  exceptions  in  kind, 
exceptions  in  place  ;  but  as  a  whole,  if  the 
commonwealth  prospers,  some  measure  of 


304   FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSR 

prosperity  comes  to  all  of  us.  If  it  is  not 
prosperous,  then  the  adversity,  though  it 
may  fall  unequally  upon  us,  will  weigh  more 
or  less  upon  all.  It  lies  with  us  ourselves 
to  determine  our  own  fate.  I  cannot  too 
often  say  that  the  wisest  law,  the  best  ad- 
ministration of  the  law,  can  do  naught  more 
than  give  us  a  fair  field  in  which  to  work 
out  that  fate  aright.  If  as  individuals,  or  as 
a  community,  we  mar  our  future  by  our  own 
folly,  let  us  remember  that  it  is  upon  our- 
selves that  the  responsibility  must  rest." 

From  the  many  wise  and  instructive  re- 
marks by  the  President  upon  civic  duties, 
we  close  with  the  following  timely  extracts  : 

"  It  is  not  enough  to  be  well  meaning  and 
kindly,  but  weak  ;  neither  is  it  enough  to  be 
strong,  unless  morality  and  decency  go  hand 
in  hand  with  strength.  We  must  possess 
the  qualities  which  make  us  do  our  duty  in  our 
homes  and  among  our  neighbors,  and  in 
addition  we  must  possess  the  qualities  which 
are  indispensable  to  the  make  up  of  every 
great  and  masterful  nation — the  qualities 
of  courage  and  hardihood,  of  individual 
initiative  and  yet  of  power  to  combine  for  a 
common  end,  and,  above  all,  the  resolute 
determination  to  permit  no  man  and  no  set 
of  men  to  sunder  us  one  from  the  other  by 
lines  of  caste  or  creed  or  section.  We  must 
act  upon  the  motto  of  all  for  each  and  each 


WORDS  OF  WISDOM.  305 

for  all.  There  must  ever  be  present  in  our 
minds  the  fundamental  truth  that  in  a  re- 
public such  as  ours  the  only  safety  is  to  stand 
neither  for  nor  against  any  man  because  he 
is  rich  or  because  he  is  poor,  because  he  is 
engaged  in  one  occupation  or  another,  be- 
cause he  works  with  his  brains  or  because 
he  works  with  his  hands.  We  must  treat 
each  man  on  his  worth  and  merits  as  a  man. 
We  must  see  that  each  is  given  a  square 
deal,  because  he  is  entitled  to  no  more  and 
should  receive  no  less.  Finally,  we  must 
keep  ever  in  mind  that  a  republic  such  as 
ours  can  exist  only  by  virtue  of  the  orderly 
liberty  which  comes  through  the  equal 
domination  of  the  law  over  all  men  alike, 
and  through  its  administration  in  such  res- 
olute and  fearless  fashion  as  shall  teach  all 
that  no  man  is  above  it  and  no  man  below 
it.  ... 

"  Just  this  morning,  when  attending  ser- 
vice on  the  great  battleship  Kearsarge,  I 
listened  to  a  sermon  addressed  to  the  offi- 
cers and  enlisted  men  of  the  navy,  in  which 
the  central  thought  was  that  each  American 
must  be  a  good  man  or  he  would  not  be  a 
good  citizen.  And  one  of  the  things  dwelt 
upon  in  that  sermon  was  the  fact  that  a  man 
must  be  clean  of  mouth  as  well  as  clean  of 
life— must  show  by  his  words  as  well  as  by 
his  actions  his  fealty  to  the  Almighty  if  he 


306    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

was  to  be  what  we  have  a  right  to  expect 
from  men  wearing  the  national  uniform. 
We  have  good  scriptural  authority  for  the 
statement  that  it  is  not  what  comes  into  a 
man's  mouth  but  what  goes  out  of  it  that 
counts.  I  am  not  addressing  weaklings,  or 
I  should  not  take  the  trouble  to  come  here. 
I  am  addressing  strong,  vigorous  men  who 
are .  engaged  in  the  active,  hard  work  of 
life  ;  and  life  to  be  worth  living  must  be  a 
life  of  active  and  hard  work.  I  am  speaking 
to  men  engaged  in  the  hard,  active  work  of 
life,  and  therefore  to  men  who  will  count 
for  good  or  for  evil.  It  is  peculiarly  in- 
cumbent upon  you  who  have  strength  to 
set  a  right  example  to  others.  I  ask  you  to 
remember  that  you  cannot  retain  your  self- 
respect  if  you  are  loose  and  foul  of  tongue  ; 
that  a  man  who  is  to  lead  a  clean  and  honor- 
able life  must  inevitably  suffer  if  his  speech 
is  not  clean  and  honorable.  Every  man 
here  knows  the  temptations  that  beset  all  of 
us  in  this  world.  At  times  any  man  will  slip. 
I  do  not  expect  perfection,  but  I  do  expect 
genuine  and  sincere  effort  toward  being  de- 
cent and  cleanly  in  thought,  in  word,  and  in 
deed.  Our  whole  effort  should  be  toward 
securing  a  combination  of  the  strong  qualities 
with  those  qualities  which  we  term  virtues. 
I  expect  you  to  be  strong.  I  would  not 
respect  you  if  you  were  not.  I  do  not  want 


WORDS  OF  WISDOM.  307 

to  see  Christianity  professed  only  by  weak- 
lings ;  I  want  to  see  it  a  moving  spirit  among 
men  of  strength.  I  do  not  expect  you  to 
lose  one  particle  of  your  strength  or  courage 
by  being  decent.  On  the  contrary,  I  should 
hope  to  see  each  man  become  all  the  fitter 
to  do  the  rough  work  of  the  world  ;  all  the 
fitter  to  work  in  time  of  peace  ;  and  if, 
which  may  Heaven  forefend  !  war  should 
come,  all  the  fitter  to  fight  in  time  of  war. 
I  desire  to  see  in  this  country  the  decent 
men  strong,  and  the  strong  men  decent,  and 
until  we  get  that  combination  in  pretty  good 
shape  we  are  not  going  to  be  by  any  means 
as  successful  as  we  should  be.  There  is 
always  a  tendency  among  very  young  men, 
and  among  boys  who  are  not  quite  young 
men  as  yet,  to  think  that  to  be  wicked  is 
rather  smart ;  to  think  it  shows  that  they  ar^ 
men.  How  often  you  see  some  young  fel- 
low who  boasts  that  he  is  going  to  '  see  life,' 
meaning  by  that  that  he  is  going  to  see 
that  part  of  life  which  it  is  a  thousandfold 
better  should  remain  unseen.  I  ask  that 
every  man  before  me  constitute  himself  his 
brother's  keeper  by  setting  an  example  to 
that  younger  brother  which  will  prevent  him 
from  getting  such  a  false  estimate  of  life. 
If  any  of  you  in  the  presence  of  younger 
boys,  and  especially  the  younger  people  of 
your  own  family,  misbehave  yourselves,  if 


308    FROM  THE  RANCH  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

you  use  coarse  and  blasphemous  language 
before  them,  you  can  be  sure  that  these 
younger  people  will  follow  your  example 
and  not  your  precept.  It  is  no  use  to  preach 
to  them  if  you  do  not  act  decently  yourself. 
You  must  feel  that  the  most  effective  way  in 
which  you  can  preach  is  by  your  practice." 


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QlOCT  18 


A     000022693     6 


